Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Trims Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 5.4% in Q2, owning 40,132 shares valued at approximately $4.28 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and UBS, have increased their positions in NetApp, indicating continued investor interest in the company.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, set to be paid on October 22nd, with an annual yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 36.75%.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd decreased its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,132 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,296 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in NetApp were worth $4,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 4,687.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,068,694 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $93,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,372 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 1,230.3% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,007,591 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 931,850 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.3% during 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,546,548 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $311,529,000 after purchasing an additional 560,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 97.7% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,096,236 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $96,293,000 after purchasing an additional 541,837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total transaction of $1,075,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 274,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,792,629.58. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,922,074.76. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,750 shares of company stock valued at $3,255,778 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NTAP. Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating 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 stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $124.07.

NetApp Stock Down 1.2%

NetApp stock traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $123.09. The stock had a trading volume of 484,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,899. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.84 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $111.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.04.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. NetApp's payout ratio is 36.75%.

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.