F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) was upgraded by investment analysts at Evercore ISI to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, The Fly reports.
Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on FFIV. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of F5 Networks from $265.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 28th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of F5 Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 28th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of F5 Networks from $238.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of F5 Networks from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, F5 Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $235.26.
Shares of FFIV traded down $3.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $231.95. The company had a trading volume of 330,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,902. The company’s 50-day moving average is $231.38 and its 200-day moving average is $211.20. F5 Networks has a twelve month low of $174.34 and a twelve month high of $249.00. The company has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.14.
F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 26th. The network technology company reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $682.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.51 million. F5 Networks had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 12.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that F5 Networks will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other F5 Networks news, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou sold 1,204 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.74, for a total value of $294,666.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scot Frazier Rogers sold 7,975 shares of F5 Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.53, for a total value of $1,758,726.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,898 shares of company stock worth $9,308,684 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of F5 Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,441 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $635,587,000 after acquiring an additional 17,344 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in F5 Networks by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,910,522 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $543,278,000 after buying an additional 64,773 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of F5 Networks by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,008,607 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $399,271,000 after purchasing an additional 177,614 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of F5 Networks by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,180,094 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $220,276,000 after purchasing an additional 37,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in F5 Networks by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,116,768 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $221,432,000 after acquiring an additional 29,479 shares in the last quarter. 93.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
F5 Networks Company Profile
F5, Inc engages development and provision of software defined application services. It offers the development, marketing and sale of application delivery networking products that optimize the security, performance, and availability of network applications, servers, and storage systems. The company was founded on February 26, 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, WA.