Westpac Banking Corp Boosts Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,904 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,003 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in NetApp were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,443,974 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,069,617,000 after purchasing an additional 429,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in NetApp by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,261,170 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,267,357,000 after buying an additional 199,384 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in NetApp by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $738,280,000 after buying an additional 453,324 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its stake in NetApp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,887,795 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $335,215,000 after acquiring an additional 12,919 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $306,440,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP opened at $90.49 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.68. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.40 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,075,309.20. This trade represents a 62.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of the business’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 value 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. 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 have sold 50,627 shares of company stock worth $5,498,573. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.