NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $24.12, but opened at $28.10. NETGEAR shares last traded at $28.98, with a volume of 185,824 shares traded.

The communications equipment provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.37. NETGEAR had a net margin of 1.83% and a negative return on equity of 9.24%. The business had revenue of $162.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.28) earnings per share. NETGEAR’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on NETGEAR from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut NETGEAR from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Transactions at NETGEAR

In other news, CEO Charles J. Prober sold 10,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total value of $291,148.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 507,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,526,806.32. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Murray Bryan sold 3,848 shares of NETGEAR stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $92,044.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,617,325.44. This represents a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,448 shares of company stock valued at $458,221. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NETGEAR

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTGR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in NETGEAR by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,316 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,132,000 after purchasing an additional 44,752 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in NETGEAR by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 770,464 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,473,000 after acquiring an additional 184,863 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of NETGEAR by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 675,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,818,000 after acquiring an additional 376,974 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NETGEAR by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 506,756 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,123,000 after purchasing an additional 93,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NETGEAR by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 406,119 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,319,000 after purchasing an additional 131,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

NETGEAR Stock Down 0.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.96. The firm has a market cap of $800.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.55 and a beta of 1.03.

NETGEAR Company Profile

NETGEAR, Inc provides connectivity solutions the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, Africa; and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Connected Home, and NETGEAR for Business. The Connected Home segment offers Wi-Fi routers and home Wi-Fi mesh systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, digital displays, broadband modems, Wi-Fi gateways, Wi-Fi range extenders, powerline adapters, and Wi-Fi network adapters; and provides value-added service offerings, including security and privacy, technical support, and parental controls.