NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Stock Position Increased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 472.2% in the first quarter, now owning 4,074 shares valued at approximately $358,000.
• NetApp recently reported an EPS of $1.93, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.90, with a revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 472.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,074 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 3,362 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 375.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the first quarter worth approximately $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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Down 3.8%

NTAP stock traded down $4.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.79. 2,552,025 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,902,549. The company has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.07.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 123.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 302 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.77, for a total value of $29,828.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,940.35. This trade represents a 39.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,802 shares of company stock worth $2,951,604. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NTAP. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.