Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $64.68 Million in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 557,224 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $64,683,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.27% of NetApp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 549 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,597 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,132 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,448 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NetApp stock traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.06. 2,203,549 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,894,351. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.48. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.88 and a 52 week high of $135.45.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Northland Securities upped their target price on NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 directly owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. The trade was a 44.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,431 shares of company stock valued at $7,309,224 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.