NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Acquired by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP increased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,602 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,643,780 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $497,556,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,502,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,375,366 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $249,307,000 after purchasing an additional 773,773 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 254.8% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,304,512 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $241,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,942 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in NetApp by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,148,540 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $225,532,000 after buying an additional 450,263 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Loop Capital raised NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.06.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total transaction of $954,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,604,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total value of $954,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,369 shares in the company, valued at $24,604,271.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,786 shares of company stock valued at $5,395,146. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $114.18 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $135.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $126.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.86.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.83%.

NetApp declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.