ProShare Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 70.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,082 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 86,839 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $3,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in NetApp by 7.3% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,489 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in NetApp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,798 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 147,518 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $13,005,000 after buying an additional 28,609 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $502,000. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 24,757 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $126.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.29. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $135.01. The stock has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.27.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 114.54%. NetApp’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to buy up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.83%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.46, for a total value of $2,848,120.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 64,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,583.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.46, for a total value of $2,848,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 64,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,583.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total transaction of $60,147.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,581,670.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,786 shares of company stock valued at $5,395,146 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NetApp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.81.

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.