Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Stake in NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR - Free Report) by 318.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,430 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 103,051 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.47% of NETGEAR worth $3,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NETGEAR by 161.0% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,841 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 7,305 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of NETGEAR by 126.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 675,209 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $18,818,000 after purchasing an additional 376,974 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of NETGEAR in the 4th quarter valued at $331,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in NETGEAR by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,740 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 3,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in NETGEAR during the fourth quarter valued at $468,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTGR. Raymond James boosted their price objective on NETGEAR from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut NETGEAR from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NETGEAR news, CEO Charles J. Prober sold 10,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total transaction of $291,148.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 507,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,526,806.32. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Murray Bryan sold 3,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $92,044.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,617,325.44. The trade was a 1.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

NETGEAR Stock Down 0.4 %

NTGR traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.11. The company had a trading volume of 198,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,160. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.72. NETGEAR, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.48 and a 52 week high of $31.55. The company has a market capitalization of $638.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.28 and a beta of 1.03.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.24). NETGEAR had a negative return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 1.83%. Research analysts predict that NETGEAR, Inc. will post -1.84 EPS for the current year.

NETGEAR Profile

NETGEAR, Inc provides connectivity solutions the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, Africa; and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Connected Home, and NETGEAR for Business. The Connected Home segment offers Wi-Fi routers and home Wi-Fi mesh systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, digital displays, broadband modems, Wi-Fi gateways, Wi-Fi range extenders, powerline adapters, and Wi-Fi network adapters; and provides value-added service offerings, including security and privacy, technical support, and parental controls.