First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,744,058 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 135,751 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.86% of NetApp worth $202,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in NetApp by 826.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.
NetApp Price Performance
Shares of NTAP traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 541,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.78. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.84 and a fifty-two week high of $135.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.
NetApp Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 38.52%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.83, for a total transaction of $695,555.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 249,765 shares in the company, valued at $20,438,269.95. The trade was a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,176 shares of company stock worth $5,095,701 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have commented on NTAP. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of NetApp to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NetApp from $153.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $125.07.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on NTAP
NetApp Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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