Olympiad Research LP Trims Stock Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Olympiad Research LP cut its stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP’s holdings in F5 were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 79.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 783.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the third quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of F5 by 1,132.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 345 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of F5 stock opened at $295.56 on Monday. F5, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.01 and a 12-month high of $313.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $275.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.47.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In other news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total transaction of $1,188,320.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,915,557.12. This trade represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.06, for a total transaction of $1,969,890.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,836,915.82. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,574 shares of company stock valued at $3,455,057. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, F5 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.00.

F5 Profile

F5, Inc provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud.