NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $81.86 and last traded at $82.85, with a volume of 757712 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $90.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Down 6.8 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.14. The firm 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $1,775,594.40. Following the sale, the president now owns 11,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,075,309.20. This trade represents a 62.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total value of $52,672.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,402,063.95. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,627 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,573. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 826.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 929.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

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.