Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 31,308 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 359,455 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 31,308 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.18% of NetApp worth $42,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 267,785 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,074,000 after buying an additional 5,636 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,989 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in NetApp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in NetApp by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 41,206 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,089,000 after purchasing an additional 11,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in NetApp by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 182,867 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $22,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

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NetApp Stock Down 9.4 %

Shares of NTAP stock traded down $8.53 on Thursday, hitting $81.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 542,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,856,633. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.89 and a fifty-two week high of $135.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $107.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.68.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 11,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,075,309.20. This represents a 62.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $1,045,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at $33,375,824.46. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTAP. Susquehanna cut NetApp from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of NetApp from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.07.

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.