Ieq Capital LLC Has $1.23 Million Stock Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC has reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 25.9%, owning 13,959 shares worth approximately $1.226 million after selling 4,885 shares in the first quarter.
• NetApp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, demonstrating a consistent return to shareholders with a yield of 1.8%.
• Analysts have set new price targets for NetApp shares, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $124.07.

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 25.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,959 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 4,885 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NetApp by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,375,363,000 after buying an additional 597,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in NetApp by 1.0% during the 1st 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. increased 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 worth $308,107,000 after buying an additional 384,362 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 8.0% in the fourth 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 worth $346,653,000 after purchasing an additional 220,393 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of NetApp by 11.7% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,014,237 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $176,931,000 after purchasing an additional 210,207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NTAP stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $118.75. 1,412,919 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,025,987. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $107.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.11. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.84 and a 1-year high of $135.45. The company has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NTAP shares. UBS Group raised their price target on NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price target on NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $124.07.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,879,438.80. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total value of $105,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,251 shares in the company, valued at $2,462,280.90. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $2,921,775 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.