Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 103,698 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,971,899 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 103,698 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $228,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 31.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 784,339 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $96,873,000 after purchasing an additional 187,638 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 73.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 6.1% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 3rd quarter worth $160,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 343.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 227,933 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,152,000 after purchasing an additional 176,495 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total transaction of $1,509,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.04, for a total transaction of $1,011,840.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 266,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,755,705.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,676 shares of company stock valued at $4,400,146 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP stock opened at $81.68 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.84 and a 1-year high of $135.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.42. The company has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna cut shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.07.

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.