First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,432,901 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,603 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.00% of NetScout Systems worth $31,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in NetScout Systems by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,118,267 shares of the technology company's stock worth $89,202,000 after purchasing an additional 448,537 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 388,286 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,410,000 after buying an additional 224,925 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,480,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in NetScout Systems by 102.9% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 392,566 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 199,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 257,700 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,582,000 after acquiring an additional 173,400 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NetScout Systems

In related news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total value of $72,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 130,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,161,036. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $287,016.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,706,955.12. This represents a 14.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company's stock.

NetScout Systems Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ NTCT traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,061. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.10 and a fifty-two week high of $27.89. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of -3.59 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $21.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.86.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.