NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 658,213 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 147,962 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.32% of NetApp worth $76,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,682 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $10,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,927 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 210,769 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $24,628,000 after purchasing an additional 26,105 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 50,303 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,839,000 after purchasing an additional 12,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in NetApp by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $241,867,000 after buying an additional 729,394 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total transaction of $2,529,780.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 27,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. This represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,931 shares of company stock valued at $6,252,759 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP traded up $2.87 on Monday, reaching $95.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,170,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,623. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.88 and a 1 year high of $135.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.06.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. NetApp's payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NTAP shares. TD Cowen reduced 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. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna downgraded NetApp from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.07.

NetApp Company 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.