6,121 Shares in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Purchased by Caxton Associates LLP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has acquired a new position in NetApp, Inc., purchasing 6,121 shares valued at approximately $538,000 during the first quarter.
• Insider activity has been notable as CEO George Kurian and EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan both sold shares recently, indicating a decrease in their ownership of the company.
• NetApp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%, and an ex-dividend date set for October 3rd.

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,121 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,375,363,000 after purchasing an additional 597,956 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 72,223 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in NetApp by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,507,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $308,107,000 after acquiring an additional 384,362 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 8.0% in the 4th 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 valued at $346,653,000 after acquiring an additional 220,393 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of NetApp by 11.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total transaction of $123,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.08, for a total transaction of $918,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 288,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,160,004.40. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,180,315. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, August 29th. 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 report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP stock traded up $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $123.89. The company had a trading volume of 290,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,546. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.13.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

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.