Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 1,310,632 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in NetApp, Inc. by 51.8%, selling over 1.3 million shares, leaving the firm with approximately 1.2 million shares worth $106.9 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in NetApp, including Pacer Advisors Inc., which boosted its ownership by an impressive 4,687.6%.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.7%, and a current dividend payout ratio of 36.75%.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 51.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,218,268 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 1,310,632 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.60% of NetApp worth $106,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 375.0% in the first 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 during the period. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter valued at 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Trading Up 0.3%

NTAP stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $124.41. The company had a trading volume of 937,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,002. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The company has a market cap of $24.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $109.52 and a 200 day moving average of $99.80. 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 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 issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total transaction of $123,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.08, for a total transaction of $918,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 288,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,160,004.40. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,180,315 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Northland Securities raised their target price on NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

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.