Scientech Research LLC Acquires New Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC has acquired a new stake of 13,590 shares in NetApp, Inc., valued at approximately $1.2 million, as disclosed in its recent SEC filing.
• NetApp has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, payable on October 22nd, with a current dividend yield of 1.8%.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for NetApp, with the average target now at $124.07, reflecting a mix of ratings from buy to hold.

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,194,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,041,930 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,375,363,000 after purchasing an additional 597,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,096,679 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $623,383,000 after acquiring an additional 72,223 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 12.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,507,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $308,107,000 after acquiring an additional 384,362 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,986,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $346,653,000 after acquiring an additional 220,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 11.8% during the first 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $118.75 on Friday. 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 $107.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.94. The company has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NTAP. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total value of $925,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,879,438.80. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,921,775 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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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