Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,010 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,651 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.15% of NetApp worth $37,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $123.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $121.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.36. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.30 and a 1-year high of $135.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.63%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total value of $397,393.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,096.71. This represents a 26.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $1,071,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 292,778 shares in the company, valued at $36,922,233.58. This trade represents a 2.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on NetApp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Oppenheimer started coverage on NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on NetApp from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.06.

NetApp Company 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.

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