Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Stock

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for NetScout from $29 to $38 while keeping a "sector perform" rating, a target that implies roughly a 3.6% downside from the recent close.
• NetScout beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.52 (vs. $0.46) and revenue of $203.0M (vs. $198.6M), set FY2027 guidance of 2.65–2.80 EPS, and its stock traded near a one‑year high at $39.41.
• The stock has an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $35.50 average target, institutional ownership of about 91.64%, and a small insider sale of 3,000 shares by an EVP.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the technology company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.57% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on NTCT. Wall Street Zen raised NetScout Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NetScout Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Stock Up 2.9%

NTCT stock traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 348,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,494. The company's fifty day moving average is $31.91 and its 200-day moving average is $29.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41 and a beta of 0.61. NetScout Systems has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $39.71.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $203.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.64 million. NetScout Systems had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 11.13%.The business's revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetScout Systems news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 129,494 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,820. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in NetScout Systems by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,587 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 32,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 147.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,011 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 10,552 shares of the technology company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,883 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout's flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.

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