NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

NTCT has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered NetScout Systems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised NetScout Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NTCT stock traded down $1.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 599,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,248. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.52. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 0.68. NetScout Systems has a one year low of $20.39 and a one year high of $45.28.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.06. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $203.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NetScout Systems

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total transaction of $322,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 129,121 shares in the company, valued at $5,202,285.09. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Alfred Grasso sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total value of $203,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,450. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 3.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 51,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 9,802 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in NetScout Systems by 5.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,420,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,844,000 after buying an additional 207,807 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 7.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 213,284 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 15,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in NetScout Systems by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,209 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,316,000 after purchasing an additional 136,253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout’s flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.