Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in NetApp, owning 370,570 shares after a 3.1% increase, valued at approximately $32.55 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly modified their positions in NetApp, with some increasing stakes by more than 900%, indicating strong interest from larger investment entities.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.0%, with a payout ratio currently at 36.62%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 370,570 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 11,115 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of NetApp worth $32,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of NetApp by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,461 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of NetApp by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 231,935 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $26,923,000 after acquiring an additional 17,155 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of NetApp by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,565 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 40,200 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $4,666,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 861.5% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 49,249 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,717,000 after acquiring an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock traded up $1.60 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.38. The stock had a trading volume of 915,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,847. The stock's 50 day moving average is $104.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.84 and a 1 year high of $135.45. The stock has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.44.

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

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.62%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 23,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,462,280.90. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were 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 $30,208,812.90. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,302 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,379 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on NTAP shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $119.21.

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.