NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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

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

NETGEAR Stock Down 5.4 %

NTGR stock traded down $1.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.87. 411,627 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,071. The stock has a market capitalization of $717.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.18 and a beta of 0.83. NETGEAR has a 52 week low of $10.48 and a 52 week high of $31.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.48.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NETGEAR will post -1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NETGEAR

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

Institutional Trading of NETGEAR

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of NETGEAR by 126.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 675,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,818,000 after acquiring an additional 376,974 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NETGEAR during the 4th quarter valued at $5,357,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of NETGEAR by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 770,464 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,473,000 after purchasing an additional 184,863 shares during the period. Tenzing Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NETGEAR in the 3rd quarter worth $3,510,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NETGEAR in the fourth quarter valued at $4,449,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NETGEAR Company Profile

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.