NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Trading Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)’s stock price shot up 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $21.60 and last traded at $21.66. 42,999 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 501,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTCT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.72 and a 200-day moving average of $21.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. On average, research analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $152,555.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,661.83. This trade represents a 15.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $287,016.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,955.12. This represents a 14.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 224,935.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,056,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055,913 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,118,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $89,202,000 after buying an additional 448,537 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 388,286 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,410,000 after buying an additional 224,925 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the fourth quarter worth $4,480,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 392,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 199,079 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.