Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Boosts Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 19.2%, acquiring an additional 37,356 shares to total 231,622 shares, valued at approximately $20.35 million.
• Various hedge funds are actively adjusting their investments in NetApp, with Manchester Capital Management raising its holdings by 375.0%, and over 92% of the stock now being owned by institutional investors.
• NetApp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%, with the payout ratio currently at 36.75%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,622 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 37,356 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.11% of NetApp worth $20,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTAP. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 375.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $118.75. 1,412,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,025,987. The stock has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.11.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NTAP. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

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

NetApp Company Profile

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.