B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Purchases 6,135 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,335 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,135 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in NetApp were worth $3,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in NetApp by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,794 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $395,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management raised its stake in NetApp by 120.7% in the fourth 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. raised its position 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 buying an additional 113,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in NetApp by 232.2% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,731 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,705 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP stock opened at $89.49 on Wednesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.40 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $108.45 and a 200-day moving average of $116.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. NetApp’s payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 11,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,075,309.20. The trade was a 62.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson purchased 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.00 per share, for a total transaction of $254,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,668. This represents a 78.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NetApp 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.