Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Position in NetScout Systems, Inc. $NTCT

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 8,441.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,096 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,650 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.05% of NetScout Systems worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in NetScout Systems by 147.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,011 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in NetScout Systems by 92.8% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in NetScout Systems in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in NetScout Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 1,936.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NetScout Systems

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total transaction of $322,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 129,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,202,285.09. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Alfred Grasso sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total value of $203,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,450. This trade represents a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 3.82% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTCT opened at $40.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.49. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $45.28.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.06. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $203.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NTCT shares. Weiss Ratings cut NetScout Systems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetScout Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout’s flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.