Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 365,066 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 11,149 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.63% of F5 worth $91,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FFIV. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of F5 in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in F5 in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in F5 by 31.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 783.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F5 Stock Performance

FFIV stock opened at $272.73 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $284.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.04. The firm has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.10. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.01 and a 1 year high of $313.00.

Insider Activity

In other F5 news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total value of $1,188,320.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. The trade was a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $59,452. This trade represents a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,232 shares of company stock worth $5,310,131 over the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FFIV. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.