Allianz SE Makes New $1.88 Million Investment in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Allianz SE bought a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,112 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,877,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,443,974 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,069,617,000 after acquiring an additional 429,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NetApp by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,261,170 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,267,357,000 after purchasing an additional 199,384 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 8.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $738,280,000 after buying an additional 453,324 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. grew its holdings in NetApp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,887,795 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $335,215,000 after acquiring an additional 12,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,440,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP traded down $7.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $82.98. The stock had a trading volume of 870,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,000. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.89 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $107.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp's payout ratio is 38.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna downgraded NetApp from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 451 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total transaction of $52,672.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.