20,154 Shares in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Bought by Sandler Capital Management

Key Points

• Sandler Capital Management has invested approximately $1.77 million in NetApp, acquiring 20,154 shares of the data storage provider's stock.
• NetApp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 36.75%.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for NetApp stock, with a consensus average target of $124.07 amid varying ratings from different investment firms.

Sandler Capital Management bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,154 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,770,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in shares of NetApp by 0.5% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 26,827 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 44.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,884 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,472 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 814,697 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $71,563,000 after purchasing an additional 122,784 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,179,710 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $183,209,000 after acquiring an additional 230,793 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 28,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total value of $105,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $925,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 283,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,879,438.80. The trade was a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,921,775 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NTAP shares. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $124.07.

NetApp Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ NTAP traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 299,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,568. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $108.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.75. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.84 and a 1-year high of $135.45.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid 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 payout ratio is 36.75%.

About NetApp

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.