NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Stock Price Target Cut by Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its NetScout price target to $35 from $43 and maintained a “sector perform” rating, implying 9.78% upside from the prior close.
• NetScout beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.71 versus $0.66 expected and revenue of $222.19 million versus $218.77 million; revenue grew 1.4% year over year.
• The company’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance is $2.65–$2.80, while revenue guidance of $885 million–$915 million has a midpoint slightly below analyst consensus. Analysts’ overall rating is “Hold,” with a $42.50 consensus price target.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $43.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector perform" rating on the technology company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target suggests a potential upside of 9.78% from the company's previous close.

NTCT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. B. Riley Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of NetScout Systems in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. after the company reported F1Q27 results. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetScout Systems from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.50.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

NetScout Systems stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.88. 305,551 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 594,948. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $38.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.72. NetScout Systems has a 12-month low of $25.29 and a 12-month high of $45.28.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The technology company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $222.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.77 million. NetScout Systems had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 13.71%. The business's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NetScout Systems will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetScout Systems news, Director Michael Szabados sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $150,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,570,355.80. This trade represents a 8.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Sanjay Munshi sold 2,269 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $89,103.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $264,247.83. This trade represents a 25.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,269 shares of company stock valued at $813,184. 4.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetScout Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in NetScout Systems by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in NetScout Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in NetScout Systems in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in NetScout Systems in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in NetScout Systems in the second quarter valued at about $68,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key NetScout Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetScout Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: For fiscal Q2 2027, NetScout earned $0.71 per share, above the $0.66 consensus and up from $0.62 a year earlier. Revenue of $222.19 million also topped estimates of $218.77 million, rising 1.4% year over year. Zacks report on quarterly results
• Positive Sentiment: NetScout raised or reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 EPS outlook at $2.65–$2.80, above the $2.62 analyst consensus, supporting its earnings outlook. NetScout fiscal Q2 results release
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $885 million–$915 million implies a $900 million midpoint, slightly below the $904.9 million consensus. That relatively cautious outlook may have outweighed the quarterly beat and contributed to the share decline. Yahoo Finance report on the share decline

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc NASDAQ: NTCT provides network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for enterprises, communications service providers, government organizations and other large institutions. Its technologies are designed to help customers monitor network traffic, identify performance issues, maintain service availability and detect or respond to cyberthreats.

The company's offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform, InfiniStream network monitoring and packet-based visibility technologies, and solutions associated with its Arbor portfolio for distributed denial-of-service protection, network detection and response, and other cybersecurity applications.

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