F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $461.00 target price (up from $423.00) on shares of F5 in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of F5 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of F5 from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of F5 from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on F5 from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, F5 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $408.67.

F5 Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIV opened at $403.46 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $401.20 and its 200 day moving average is $331.76. F5 has a 12-month low of $223.76 and a 12-month high of $435.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 1.03.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The network technology company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.73. F5 had a return on equity of 21.94% and a net margin of 21.95%.The business had revenue of $865.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $834.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.16 EPS. F5’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. F5 has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.260 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.210-17.330 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that F5 will post 12.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas Dean Fountain sold 1,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.58, for a total transaction of $439,010.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,060 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,474.80. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Edward Cooper Werner sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,400. The trade was a 86.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,579 shares of company stock valued at $7,836,860. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F5

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of F5 by 166.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 62,906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,750,000 after buying an additional 39,305 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of F5 by 1,281.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in F5 by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 298,297 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,428,000 after acquiring an additional 82,835 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in F5 in the 1st quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in F5 by 288.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. 90.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting F5

Here are the key news stories impacting F5 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q3 results: F5 reported adjusted EPS of $4.73, above the $4.00 consensus, while revenue rose 10.9% year over year to $865.1 million, exceeding expectations of $834.6 million. Product revenue increased 19%, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit product growth. F5 Reports Third Quarter Results with 19% Product Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Higher guidance: Management raised its fiscal 2026 outlook, forecasting EPS of $17.21–$17.33 and revenue of approximately $3.4 billion. Fourth-quarter guidance of $4.14–$4.26 EPS and $870–$890 million in revenue also exceeds consensus estimates. The company cited strong cybersecurity demand, hybrid multicloud adoption and application-security growth. F5 raises annual revenue growth forecast
• Positive Sentiment: AI expansion: F5 plans to acquire CalypsoAI to add advanced AI guardrails for large enterprises, potentially strengthening its position in securing AI applications and APIs. F5 to Acquire CalypsoAI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions are mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $515 and kept an overweight rating, while Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $415 but maintained equal weight. Barclays raised its target to $397 and also kept equal weight. The reported average target of $382.67 remains below the current share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margins temper enthusiasm: With F5 trading near its 52-week high and at roughly 32 times earnings, investors may be taking profits. Coverage has also highlighted a cautious margin outlook, making the shares sensitive to any evidence that elevated AI and product investment could limit earnings expansion. F5 Lifts 2026 Outlook As Valuation Questions Come Into Focus

F5 Company Profile

F5 Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) specializes in application services and delivery networking, helping organizations ensure the availability, performance and security of their applications. The company’s core offerings include advanced load balancing, traffic management and application security solutions designed to optimize user experiences and protect against threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and web application exploits.

At the heart of F5’s product portfolio is the BIG-IP platform, which provides a suite of software modules for local and global traffic management, secure web application firewalling and DNS service delivery.