Chiron Investment Management LLC Buys 5,357 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Chiron Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,106 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,357 shares during the quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in NetApp in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the second quarter worth about $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 2,833.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in NetApp during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total transaction of $397,393.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,096.71. This trade represents a 26.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $1,071,935.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 292,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,922,233.58. The trade was a 2.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Up 2.2 %

NetApp stock traded up $2.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $123.88. The stock had a trading volume of 909,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,853,457. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.62 and a 1-year high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $122.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.23.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 123.63%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 38.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NetApp from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NetApp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on NetApp in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.40.

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.