Ameriprise Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,880 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 12,701 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.22% of NetScout Systems worth $3,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in NetScout Systems by 1,214.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,367 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NetScout Systems by 811.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,498 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at NetScout Systems

In related news, COO Michael Szabados sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.77, for a total transaction of $170,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 28,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $648,694.53. This trade represents a 20.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company's stock.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTCT traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.12. 273,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,200. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.78. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.10 and a 52-week high of $27.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.95 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50 day moving average price is $21.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.02.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $204.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.80 million. NetScout Systems had a positive return on equity of 6.76% and a negative net margin of 50.90%. The firm's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.