NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Sold by AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,324 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 977 shares during the quarter. NetApp makes up about 2.4% of AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $6,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp by 2,833.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the third quarter worth $51,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total value of $1,056,465.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,774,104.78. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This trade represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,903 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,341 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $118.22 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $120.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.02. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.43 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The firm has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.23.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NetApp from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.33.

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.