NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Bought by Woodline Partners LP

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 244.8% during the first quarter, owning 534,396 shares valued at approximately $46.94 million.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, which will be paid on October 22nd, representing an annualized dividend of $2.08 and a yield of 1.7%.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for NetApp shares, with Bank of America increasing its target from $121.00 to $125.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the company's stock.

Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 244.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 534,396 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 379,407 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.26% of NetApp worth $46,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NetApp by 375.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in NetApp by 54.9% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $121.17 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.75. The stock has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.28. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on 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 owned 23,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,462,280.90. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $2,921,775. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTAP. Northland Securities upped their price objective on NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.07.

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.

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