NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stake Lowered by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,923 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,551 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $3,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,209 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,633,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in NetApp by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 490 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,187 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 82.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,279 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.44, for a total transaction of $862,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 261,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,496,330.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.44, for a total transaction of $862,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 261,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,496,330.88. 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 871 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $89,730.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,601 shares in the company, valued at $989,095.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,371 shares of company stock valued at $4,139,505. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTAP. UBS Group boosted their price target on NetApp from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays raised their target price on NetApp from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.60.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $97.95 on Monday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.92 and a 1 year high of $112.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.99 and its 200-day moving average is $88.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.25. NetApp had a return on equity of 109.49% and a net margin of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.45%.

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.