NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Holdings Lifted by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 468,136 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,520 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of NetApp worth $54,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in NetApp by 826.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $76.10 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.83 and a 12 month high of $135.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.85 and a 200-day moving average of $116.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $1,045,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total transaction of $52,672.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna cut shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

About NetApp

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.