Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New Investment in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 224,446 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,721,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.11% of NetApp as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 302,010 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $37,301,000 after purchasing an additional 24,651 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 20.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 42,302 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,225,000 after buying an additional 7,318 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 4.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 186,777 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $24,057,000 after acquiring an additional 8,305 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the third quarter worth $4,059,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in NetApp by 3.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,405,363 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $309,811,000 after acquiring an additional 82,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP traded up $1.73 on Friday, reaching $130.52. 1,106,611 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,851,596. The firm has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.51. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.62 and a 12 month high of $135.45.

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

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp's payout ratio is currently 38.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total transaction of $88,971.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,782.80. This represents a 5.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $38,285.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,049 shares of company stock worth $2,807,851 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NTAP shares. Loop Capital upgraded shares of NetApp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $121.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $137.40.

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.