First Trust Advisors LP Has $55.46 Million Stock Holdings in NetScout Systems, Inc. $NTCT

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its NetScout Systems stake by 30.8% in the first quarter, selling 775,198 shares and retaining 1.74 million shares valued at $55.46 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 91.64% of NTCT.
• Analyst views remain mixed, but MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $35.50 price target. Royal Bank of Canada raised its target to $38, while other firms maintained or issued Hold ratings.
• NetScout exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.52 EPS versus a $0.46 estimate and $203.03 million in revenue, although revenue declined 1% year over year. The stock opened at $40.00, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.86 billion.

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,744,535 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 775,198 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.42% of NetScout Systems worth $55,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in NetScout Systems by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,559,192 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,192,000 after buying an additional 753,842 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 1,361.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 747,824 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $19,316,000 after buying an additional 696,643 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of NetScout Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,091,000. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,288,036 shares of the technology company's stock worth $61,914,000 after acquiring an additional 588,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,137,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NTCT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of NetScout Systems from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

NTCT opened at $40.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average of $34.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77 and a beta of 0.68. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.39 and a fifty-two week high of $45.28.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.06. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $203.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. NetScout Systems's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at NetScout Systems

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total value of $322,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 129,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,202,285.09. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Alfred Grasso sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total value of $203,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,450. This trade represents a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 3.82% of the company's stock.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout's flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.

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