Parallel Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NTAP. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in NetApp by 276.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $103,431,000 after buying an additional 654,626 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $64,683,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $738,280,000 after purchasing an additional 453,324 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in NetApp by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,948,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $228,492,000 after purchasing an additional 397,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its stake in NetApp by 926.1% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 283,674 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $35,022,000 after purchasing an additional 256,028 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Susquehanna downgraded NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $48,882.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,194,282. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $1,045,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP opened at $92.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.88 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.52%.

About NetApp

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.