NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,847 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,295 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in NetScout Systems were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 316.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 32.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in NetScout Systems by 52.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in NetScout Systems by 25.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,606 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in NetScout Systems by 203.8% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTCT opened at $21.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 0.60. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.10 and a 12-month high of $27.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetScout Systems

In related news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total transaction of $72,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,352 shares in the company, valued at $3,161,036. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total value of $152,555.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,661.83. This represents a 15.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 over the last quarter. 3.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTCT. StockNews.com raised shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.