Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,609 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $419,000.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTAP. Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in NetApp by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 6,149 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 876 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in NetApp by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,492 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in NetApp by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in NetApp by 2.4% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.
Shares of NASDAQ NTAP traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $122.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,821,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,269,484. The business's 50 day moving average is $120.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.82. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.23.
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 123.63% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.24%.
In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total value of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at $3,116,114.01. This trade represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total transaction of $397,393.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,277 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,096.71. The trade was a 26.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,610 shares of company stock worth $6,149,531. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.
Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on NetApp from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NetApp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.20.
View Our Latest Research Report on NTAP
NetApp, Inc provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.
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