Czech National Bank Purchases 3,025 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its holdings in NetApp, Inc. by 6.5% in the second quarter, owning 49,721 shares valued at approximately $5.30 million.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, set to be paid on October 22nd, with a current dividend yield of 1.6%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for NetApp, with target prices ranging from $100 to $130, as highlighted by recent evaluations from top financial institutions.

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,721 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in NetApp were worth $5,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,998 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,250,000 after buying an additional 10,494 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 221,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $19,492,000 after buying an additional 79,457 shares in the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at $321,000. UNICOM Systems Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at $13,483,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at $2,050,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTAP. Northland Securities increased their price objective 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. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total transaction of $1,075,462.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 274,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,792,629.58. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,750 shares of company stock worth $3,255,778 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,250,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,680. The stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.46. 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 one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $111.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.72.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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