F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Stock Position Lifted by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,480 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.06% of F5 worth $8,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Creative Planning grew its position in F5 by 8.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in F5 by 156.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 617 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $338,000. Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new stake in F5 in the third quarter worth approximately $595,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total transaction of $221,639.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at $538,876.50. This represents a 29.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 27,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. This represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,574 shares of company stock worth $3,455,057 in the last ninety days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.00.

F5 Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $295.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a one year low of $159.01 and a one year high of $313.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.47.

F5 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network technology company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.