NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Sold by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,639 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 20,928 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $232,502,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 254.8% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,304,512 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $241,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,942 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of NetApp by 127.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,698,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,720,000 after purchasing an additional 950,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,375,366 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $249,307,000 after purchasing an additional 773,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.67.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total value of $60,147.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,581,670.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.33, for a total transaction of $424,518.22. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,458,565.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total transaction of $60,147.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,581,670.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,786 shares of company stock worth $5,395,146. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $120.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.18. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $135.01.

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

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. 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 stock buyback program on Thursday, May 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board 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.