Stock Traders Buy High Volume of NetApp Call Options (NASDAQ:NTAP)

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 12,474 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 251% compared to the average daily volume of 3,554 call options.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $115.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,429,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,281. NetApp has a 12 month low of $83.62 and a 12 month 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 moving average is $121.15 and its 200 day moving average is $123.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.23.

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

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NTAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded NetApp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $139.20.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 326 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $38,285.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total transaction of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at $3,116,114.01. The trade was a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,864 shares of company stock valued at $6,185,830 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth $85,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $159,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 2.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 6.4% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 41,099 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 36.9% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,756 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently 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.