NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Rating Increased to Overweight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $115.00 price objective on the data storage provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on NetApp from $153.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna lowered shares of NetApp from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.07.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.23. 411,299 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,927,139. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. NetApp has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $89.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.03.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. NetApp's payout ratio is 38.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 452 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.75, for a total value of $54,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,024.75. This represents a 3.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total transaction of $1,509,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at $14,880,359.82. The trade was a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,176 shares of company stock worth $5,095,701. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 784,339 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $96,873,000 after buying an additional 187,638 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 6.1% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the third quarter worth approximately $160,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 343.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 227,933 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $28,152,000 after purchasing an additional 176,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in NetApp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 433,616 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $55,009,000 after purchasing an additional 71,165 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NetApp

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.