Investment Management Corp of Ontario Cuts Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lessened its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,196 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 31,694 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in NetApp were worth $2,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Barclays PLC lifted its position in NetApp by 31.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 784,339 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $96,873,000 after buying an additional 187,638 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 0.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 282,467 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $34,888,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in NetApp by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,401 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,154,000 after buying an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth $222,000. Finally, Cooper Financial Group acquired a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP traded up $0.17 on Thursday, hitting $99.82. 1,894,379 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,922,458. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.46 and a 200-day moving average of $108.74. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.84 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.40.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. NetApp's payout ratio is 38.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on NTAP. Loop Capital cut their target price on NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America raised NetApp from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised NetApp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,075,309.20. This represents a 62.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.04, for a total value of $1,011,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 266,765 shares in the company, valued at $31,755,705.60. This trade represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,224 shares of company stock worth $3,531,872 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.