Ariel Investments LLC Lowers Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Ariel Investments LLC reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately $24.98 million worth of the company's stock.
• Several other institutional investors increased their holdings in NetApp, with Manchester Capital Management growing its stake by 375.0% in the same quarter.
• NetApp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%.

Ariel Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 27.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,408 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 107,195 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 0.14% of NetApp worth $24,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NTAP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,375,363,000 after acquiring an additional 597,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,096,679 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $623,383,000 after acquiring an additional 72,223 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in NetApp by 12.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,507,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $308,107,000 after acquiring an additional 384,362 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,986,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $346,653,000 after acquiring an additional 220,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in NetApp by 11.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,179,710 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $183,209,000 after acquiring an additional 230,793 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NTAP stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $118.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,412,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,987. The company's fifty day moving average is $107.89 and its 200 day moving average is $99.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.28. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.84 and a fifty-two week high of $135.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total value of $105,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,462,280.90. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $925,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,688 shares in the company, valued at $30,879,438.80. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $2,921,775. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

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.