Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,329 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.06% of NetApp worth $14,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 706.3% during the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $121.13 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.98. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.82 and a 52 week high of $135.01. The company has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. NetApp had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 121.41%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.63%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $1,071,935.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,922,233.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total value of $88,971.00. Following the completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total transaction of $1,071,935.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,778 shares in the company, valued at $36,922,233.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,890 shares of company stock worth $1,369,172 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NTAP shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital raised NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.06.

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.