Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $15.60 Million Stock Position in F5, Inc. $FFIV

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,018 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,084 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in F5 were worth $15,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FFIV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of F5 by 275.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in F5 by 134.1% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 103 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in F5 during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F5 in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of F5 by 288.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 8,318 shares of F5 stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.78, for a total value of $2,077,670.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,493 shares in the company, valued at $5,618,301.54. This trade represents a 27.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 9,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.77, for a total transaction of $2,356,829.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,404,352.57. This trade represents a 26.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,414 shares of company stock worth $8,004,410. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

F5 Stock Up 0.6%

FFIV stock opened at $248.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.08. F5, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.04 and a 1 year high of $346.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The network technology company reported $4.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $810.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.06 million. F5 had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.42%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. F5 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.500-15.500 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 3.350-3.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that F5, Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FFIV shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of F5 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of F5 from $321.00 to $267.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI restated a “cautious” rating on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of F5 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on F5 from $350.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.56.

About F5

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.