Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 196,726 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,859 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.10% of NetApp worth $22,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Several research firms have issued reports on NTAP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America raised NetApp from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna lowered NetApp from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.07.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on NetApp
In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total value of $1,056,465.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,774,104.78. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 528 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $48,882.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,194,282. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,431 shares of company stock worth $7,309,224 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
NTAP traded up $0.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.49. 2,317,171 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,887,759. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $90.08 and a one year high of $135.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $116.44 and its 200 day moving average is $119.89. The firm has a market cap of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.52%.
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.
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