After Reuters reported that F5 (FFIV) had hired an investment bank to handle takeover inquiries, RBC Capital thinks that private equity firms have probably expressed interest in the company. The firm says it "struggles" to understand why F5 would sell itself to a private equity firm ahead of its launch of new products. However, the firm says that F5 could be worth $111 in a takeover, in-lien with the valuation of the recent acquisition of Qlik Technologies (QLIK), or F5 could be valued at $133, in-line with the valuation of the Informatica and Tibco acquisitions. Finally, F5 would be worth $150 per share in a takeover deal, based on the average valuation of software acquisitions over the last five years, RBC stated. It keeps a $110 price target and Sector Perform rating on the name.

Morgan Stanley notes that Salesforce (CRM) management has advised investors that strategic M&A would be coming back into the company's toolkit at some point and recent press speculation about the company being in advanced talks to buy Informatica (INFA) suggests the company "may be ready to break the ice." While any significant M&A brings execution risks and "increased angst from investors still harboring memories of prior expensive deals," the analyst says a rumored transaction with Informatica, if it were to be confirmed and the deal were to be struck around a $12B enterprise value, looks to meet Salesforce's "criteria for responsible M&A." The firm, which sees potential for a complementary expansion that further buttresses the capabilities of Mulesoft and Data Cloud, has an Overweight rating and $350 price target on Salesforce shares.