Prudential Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 102.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 392,566 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199,079 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.55% of NetScout Systems worth $8,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NTCT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NetScout Systems by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,353,501 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,597,000 after acquiring an additional 64,475 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of NetScout Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 216,865 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,697,000 after purchasing an additional 71,815 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in NetScout Systems by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,563 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 19,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in NetScout Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:NTCT opened at $21.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.62 and a beta of 0.64. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.10 and a 1 year high of $27.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.81.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTCT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetScout Systems news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $287,016.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,955.12. This trade represents a 14.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,499 shares of company stock worth $512,321. 3.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.