KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Cuts Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS cut its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,102 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 65,400 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.09% of NetApp worth $16,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in NetApp by 54.9% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on NetApp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $118.86.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.94. 893,151 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,098,068. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.68 and a 200-day moving average of $102.61. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45. The firm has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. NetApp's payout ratio is 36.62%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total transaction of $865,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 296,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,208,812.90. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $106,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,976.84. This trade represents a 3.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,302 shares of company stock valued at $1,920,479. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp 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.