NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Holdings Lowered by USS Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 26.3%, ultimately holding 46,417 shares valued at approximately $4,077,000 after selling 16,600 shares.
• Equities analysts have set new target prices for NetApp, with estimates ranging from $115.00 to $130.00, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.07.
• NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with an annual yield of 1.7%, to be paid on October 22nd to stockholders of record on October 3rd.

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,417 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 16,600 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in NetApp were worth $4,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 375.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in NetApp by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 350 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company'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 directly owned 283,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,879,438.80. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock worth $3,045,445 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NTAP. Barclays boosted their price target on NetApp from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on NetApp in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price target on NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.07.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $124.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,868,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,567. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $109.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.80. The company has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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