Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 13,942 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 674,993 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,942 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.33% of NetApp worth $78,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 826.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total value of $52,672.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $1,045,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,627 shares of company stock worth $5,498,573. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $76.10 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.83 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 38.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTAP. Susquehanna lowered shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

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.