F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Stake Increased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,635 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in F5 were worth $2,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFIV. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in F5 in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in F5 in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FFIV shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC increased 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of F5 from $304.00 to $262.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,876.50. This trade represents a 29.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,300 shares of F5 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.37, for a total value of $344,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 148,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,446,454.39. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,232 shares of company stock valued at $5,310,131. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

F5 Price Performance

F5 stock opened at $261.68 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 capitalization of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.12.

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.