NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $81.86 and last traded at $82.85, with a volume of 757712 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NTAP shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of NetApp to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.07.

NetApp Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company's fifty day moving average is $103.24 and its 200 day moving average is $115.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 38.52%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,075,309.20. The trade was a 62.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in NetApp by 5.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 580,655 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $51,005,000 after buying an additional 30,981 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 7,160.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 238,925 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $20,987,000 after acquiring an additional 235,634 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 69,312 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 20,770 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in NetApp by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 976 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in NetApp by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,461 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NetApp

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.