Zacks Investment Management Sells 3,257 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Zacks Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 3,257 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in NetApp were worth $6,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in NetApp by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,794 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $395,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in shares of NetApp by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 68,897 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $7,998,000 after purchasing an additional 37,684 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,346,212 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $156,268,000 after acquiring an additional 113,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth about $5,151,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ NTAP traded up $1.10 on Tuesday, hitting $82.78. 407,947 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,657. The company has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.52 and a 200 day moving average of $112.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 38.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.04, for a total transaction of $1,011,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 266,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,755,705.60. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This trade represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,676 shares of company stock worth $4,400,146. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About NetApp

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.