UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Has $311.53 Million Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management has increased its holdings in NetApp, Inc. by 18.8%, owning a total of 3,546,548 shares valued at approximately $311.5 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.7%, set to be paid on October 22nd.
• Analysts have varying views on NetApp, with Barclays and Bank of America raising their price targets to $125.00, while a total of seven analysts have rated the stock as a Buy.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,546,548 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 560,218 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 1.74% of NetApp worth $311,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 375.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 54.9% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTAP shares. Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays upped their target price on NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.07.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $925,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,879,438.80. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total transaction of $123,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,045,445 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock traded down $1.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,868,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,189,446. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.09. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.84 and a fifty-two week high of $135.45. The company has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.