F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the December 31st total of 1,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 564,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Insider Activity at F5
In other news, Director Alan Higginson sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total value of $197,810.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,407.14. This represents a 7.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marianne Budnik sold 728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,876.50. The trade was a 29.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in F5 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in F5 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in F5 by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
F5 Stock Performance
F5 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network technology company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $246.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on FFIV
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.
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