NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 353,867 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 21,904 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in NetApp were worth $36,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in NetApp by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,643,780 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $497,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $232,502,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 48.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,375,366 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $249,307,000 after acquiring an additional 773,773 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 254.8% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,304,512 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $241,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 26.5% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,148,540 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $225,532,000 after acquiring an additional 450,263 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP traded down $3.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.05. 2,385,889 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,609,858. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.19. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $135.01.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 114.54% and a net margin of 15.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This is a boost from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. NetApp’s payout ratio is 44.83%.

NetApp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their target price on NetApp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus raised their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.33, for a total transaction of $424,518.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,565.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.33, for a total transaction of $424,518.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,565.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.46, for a total transaction of $2,848,120.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 64,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,583.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,786 shares of company stock valued at $5,395,146. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Company 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.