NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.73.

NTAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 11,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,075,309.20. This trade represents a 62.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson purchased 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.00 per share, for a total transaction of $254,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $577,668. This represents a 78.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,176 shares of company stock worth $5,445,901. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in NetApp by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,794 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $395,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management raised its stake in NetApp by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 68,897 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $7,998,000 after purchasing an additional 37,684 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in NetApp by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,346,212 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $156,268,000 after purchasing an additional 113,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $5,151,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Trading Up 0.8 %

NetApp stock opened at $83.28 on Tuesday. NetApp has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.46 and its 200 day moving average is $113.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

NetApp Company 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.