F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) Shares Down 7.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) dropped 7.2% on Thursday after Zacks Investment Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The stock traded as low as $115.63 and last traded at $119.02, with a volume of 3,845,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.20.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on FFIV. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of F5 Networks in a report on Thursday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $124.00 price objective (down previously from $132.00) on shares of F5 Networks in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Drexel Hamilton reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of F5 Networks in a report on Friday, July 21st. Credit Suisse Group AG set a $138.00 price objective on shares of F5 Networks and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of F5 Networks from $136.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. F5 Networks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.19.

In other news, CFO Andrew Reinland sold 6,215 shares of F5 Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.27, for a total transaction of $747,478.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,477,682.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Edward Julian Eames sold 4,378 shares of F5 Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.63, for a total transaction of $528,118.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 35,088 shares in the company, valued at $4,232,665.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,050 shares of company stock worth $2,293,138. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 0.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,416,690 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $815,305,000 after buying an additional 16,411 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 2,108.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,404,873 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $628,003,000 after buying an additional 4,205,384 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 5.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,740,209 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $221,111,000 after buying an additional 95,035 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 1.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,548,995 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $220,840,000 after buying an additional 23,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in F5 Networks by 9.3% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,450,142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $184,254,000 after buying an additional 123,489 shares in the last quarter. 92.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.55 and its 200-day moving average is $133.23. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.16.

F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The network technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. F5 Networks had a net margin of 18.96% and a return on equity of 33.85%. The firm had revenue of $517.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that F5 Networks, Inc. will post $8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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About F5 Networks

F5 Networks, Inc is a developer and provider of software defined application services. The Company is engaged in the development, marketing and sale of application delivery networking products that optimize the security, performance and availability of network applications, servers and storage systems.