NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Price Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) shares fell 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $125.94 and last traded at $125.94. 204,680 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,849,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NTAP shares. Citigroup increased their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.00.

NetApp Stock Down 5.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.95. 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 (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a return on equity of 123.63% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total value of $88,971.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,694 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,782.80. This trade represents a 5.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $38,285.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NetApp by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,643,146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $211,637,000 after purchasing an additional 613,583 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 8.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $738,280,000 after buying an additional 453,324 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth $56,313,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,791,599 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $359,517,000 after buying an additional 416,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,074,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.