International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 663 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,431 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,527 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 804.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,236 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after acquiring an additional 32,230 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in NetApp by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,809 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total transaction of $1,108,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 314,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,968,758.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $1,108,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,968,758.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total transaction of $60,147.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,581,670.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,786 shares of company stock valued at $5,395,146. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NetApp Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $118.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.27. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $135.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.41.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 121.41%. NetApp’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to reacquire up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NTAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NetApp from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.06.

NetApp 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.