Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 45.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 458,380 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 379,032 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.23% of NetApp worth $53,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth $306,440,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $241,867,000 after purchasing an additional 729,394 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 276.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $103,431,000 after purchasing an additional 654,626 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,683,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in NetApp by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,123,228 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $362,544,000 after purchasing an additional 529,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at NetApp
In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $1,775,594.40. Following the transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,075,309.20. The trade was a 62.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 271,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,176 shares of company stock valued at $5,445,901 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.
NetApp Stock Performance
Shares of NTAP traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.20. 809,334 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,915,188. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $99.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.85. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.
NetApp Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. NetApp's payout ratio is 38.52%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upgraded NetApp from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $127.73.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on NTAP
NetApp Profile
(
Free Report)
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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