Meritage Portfolio Management Lowers Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 38.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 27,022 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in NetApp were worth $3,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 826.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in NetApp by 929.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ NTAP traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $107.48. 940,236 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,923,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $99.90 and its 200-day moving average is $103.83. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.84 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.42.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 126.96% and a net margin of 18.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total value of $865,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,208,812.90. This represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 302 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.77, for a total transaction of $29,828.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,940.35. This trade represents a 39.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,302 shares of company stock valued at $1,590,514. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTAP shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on NetApp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.79.

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.