Xponance Inc. Boosts Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,303 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,402 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in NetApp were worth $5,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 66.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,137 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,910,000 after purchasing an additional 28,693 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in NetApp by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 92,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $11,463,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 24.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,461 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,169,000 after buying an additional 1,864 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 19.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,348 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the third quarter valued at about $744,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total value of $2,529,780.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NTAP stock traded up $2.87 on Monday, hitting $95.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,170,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,623. The stock's 50-day moving average is $112.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.06. 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 has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.88 and a twelve month high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. NetApp's payout ratio is 38.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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 raised NetApp from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.