Freedom Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,584 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in F5 were worth $1,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in F5 by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Price Performance

F5 stock opened at $258.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $274.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.01. F5, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.01 and a 1-year high of $313.00. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FFIV. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on F5 from $296.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on F5 from $304.00 to $262.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of F5 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. This trade represents a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.45, for a total value of $221,639.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,876.50. This represents a 29.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,232 shares of company stock worth $5,310,131. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.