J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 16,576 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has significantly reduced its position in NetApp, Inc. by 84.5%, selling 16,576 shares and now holding only 3,045 shares valued at $324,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in NetApp, including a 4,687.6% increase by Pacer Advisors Inc., now owning over 1 million shares worth approximately $93.9 million.
• NetApp's stock price has seen analyst upgrades, with price targets raised by multiple firms, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. increasing their target to $130.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the company.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 84.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,045 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 16,576 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in NetApp were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in NetApp by 4,687.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,068,694 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $93,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,372 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in NetApp by 1,230.3% in the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,007,591 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 931,850 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NetApp by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,375,363,000 after purchasing an additional 597,956 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in NetApp by 18.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,546,548 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $311,529,000 after purchasing an additional 560,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in NetApp by 97.7% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,096,236 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $96,293,000 after purchasing an additional 541,837 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total transaction of $105,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,251 shares in the company, valued at $2,462,280.90. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total value of $1,075,462.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 274,938 shares in the company, valued at $33,792,629.58. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,529 shares of company stock worth $3,350,714 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

NetApp Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $118.72 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.84 and a 1 year high of $135.45. The firm has a market capitalization 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 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $114.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.74.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

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.

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