NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Bought by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC significantly increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 93.2% during Q2, owning 10,986 shares valued at approximately $1.17 million by the end of the reporting period.
• A few major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and UBS AM, have also grown their positions in NetApp, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• NetApp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 1.6% based on its current payout ratio of 36.75%.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 93.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,986 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 5,301 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 375.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in NetApp by 54.9% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total transaction of $123,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,922,074.76. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 274,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,792,629.58. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,750 shares of company stock valued at $3,255,778. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $125.16. 7,250,396 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,680. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $111.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.76. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTAP. UBS Group raised their price objective on NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

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.