UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Raises Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,724 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,121 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in NetApp were worth $5,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 826.9% during 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 period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $48,882.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,282. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $1,045,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NTAP shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna lowered NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $88.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.14 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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 $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

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.