StockNews.com Downgrades NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) to Hold

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Raymond James lifted their target price on NETGEAR from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

NETGEAR Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NTGR stock opened at $24.77 on Monday. NETGEAR has a 12 month low of $10.48 and a 12 month high of $31.55. The company has a market cap of $715.09 million, a P/E ratio of 61.93 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.54.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24). NETGEAR had a net margin of 1.83% and a negative return on equity of 9.24%. On average, equities analysts forecast that NETGEAR will post -1.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles J. Prober sold 10,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total value of $291,148.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 507,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,526,806.32. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas H. Waechter sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.42, for a total transaction of $60,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,859,726.70. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NETGEAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of NETGEAR during the third quarter worth $235,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NETGEAR in the 3rd quarter worth $1,805,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of NETGEAR during the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in NETGEAR by 23.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 141,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 26,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NETGEAR during the third quarter valued at $91,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NETGEAR

NETGEAR, Inc provides connectivity solutions the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, Africa; and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Connected Home, and NETGEAR for Business. The Connected Home segment offers Wi-Fi routers and home Wi-Fi mesh systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, digital displays, broadband modems, Wi-Fi gateways, Wi-Fi range extenders, powerline adapters, and Wi-Fi network adapters; and provides value-added service offerings, including security and privacy, technical support, and parental controls.