F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Price Target Cut to $180.00

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) had its price objective dropped by Evercore ISI from $200.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “in-line” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FFIV. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on F5 from $156.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $167.00 target price (down previously from $187.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on F5 from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on F5 from $206.00 to $189.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.10.

F5 Price Performance

Shares of FFIV stock opened at $166.62 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $187.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.82. F5 has a 1-year low of $129.93 and a 1-year high of $199.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.11.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The network technology company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.03. F5 had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. F5’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that F5 will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at F5

In related news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total transaction of $1,203,328.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,173,653.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Francis J. Pelzer sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.81, for a total transaction of $89,405.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,290 shares in the company, valued at $5,594,964.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 6,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.02, for a total value of $1,203,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,251 shares in the company, valued at $23,173,653.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,201 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,065 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in F5 during the first quarter worth about $3,981,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,906 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,045,000 after purchasing an additional 19,746 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 84,242 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $14,602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,058 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of F5 in the 1st quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of F5 by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,362 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

F5 Company 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.