AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 19.1% during the first quarter, now owning 696,034 shares valued at approximately $60.34 million.
• Various institutional investors increased their holdings, with Achmea Investment Management B.V. raising its position by 55.8%, acquiring over 79,000 additional shares.
• Analysts' price targets for NetApp vary, with some raising their objectives and others lowering them, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,034 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 164,316 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.34% of NetApp worth $60,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in NetApp during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 375.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 54.9% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Up 1.6%

NTAP stock traded up $1.95 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $123.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,000,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,899. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.84 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.07.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total transaction of $105,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,462,280.90. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total transaction of $865,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,805 shares in the company, valued at $30,208,812.90. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $2,921,775 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

About NetApp

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.