Mizuho Securities USA LLC Decreases Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC has reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 16.1%, selling 3,130 shares and now holding a total of 16,279 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million.
• Other institutional investors have significantly increased their positions, with Pacer Advisors Inc. boosting holdings by an astonishing 4,687.6% in the same quarter.
• NetApp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 36.62%.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 16.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,279 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 3,130 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $1,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,375,363,000 after acquiring an additional 597,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,024,456 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $815,402,000 after acquiring an additional 888,671 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 8.0% during 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 valued at $346,653,000 after acquiring an additional 220,393 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in NetApp by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,824,327 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $327,848,000 after acquiring an additional 550,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in NetApp by 11.7% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,014,237 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $176,931,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $108.79. 2,066,158 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,473,976. The firm has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $105.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.83. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.84 and a 1-year high of $135.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 126.96%. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley restated a "cautious" rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $119.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were 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 $2,462,280.90. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.