IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Cuts Holdings in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lowered its position in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,195 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 69,368 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd owned 0.17% of NetScout Systems worth $2,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 316.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,498 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 91.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTCT has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 lifted their target price 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTCT opened at $21.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.91. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.10 and a 52-week high of $27.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.72 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Insider Transactions at NetScout Systems

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,161,036. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 35,989 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,499 shares of company stock worth $512,321. Insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Company 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.