Swedbank AB Boosts Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 58.5% during Q2, bringing its total to 80,444 shares valued at approximately $8.57 million as per its latest SEC filing.
• Insider trading activity revealed that two executives, including CEO George Kurian, sold a combined total of 29,750 shares recently, indicating a 3.08% to 4.06% decrease in their holdings.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, with an annualized yield of 1.7%, to be paid out on October 22nd to stockholders of record as of October 3rd.

Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 58.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,695 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in NetApp were worth $8,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in NetApp by 11.0% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,083 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in NetApp by 54.9% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,694 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in NetApp by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total value of $123,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,628 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,074.76. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total transaction of $1,075,462.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,750 shares of company stock valued at $3,255,778 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $125.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $111.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.82. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target 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, Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.07.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NTAP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.