Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Reduces Stake in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its position in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 25.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 451,623 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 157,992 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in F5 were worth $99,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the 1st quarter worth about $274,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,415,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of F5 by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 80,292 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $15,224,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of F5 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,133,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of F5 by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 8,845 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $246.98 on Friday. F5, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.01 and a 12-month high of $250.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $226.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.91. The firm has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.05.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The network technology company reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. F5 had a net margin of 20.13% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $747.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that F5, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F5 declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on FFIV. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on F5 from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of F5 from $212.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of F5 from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $233.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 600 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $130,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,617,437.50. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alan Higginson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.65, for a total value of $201,650.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,159,066.55. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,575 shares of company stock valued at $997,039 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About F5

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.