NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Sold by Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC lessened its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,680 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 408 shares during the period. NetApp comprises approximately 1.8% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,209 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,633,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in NetApp by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 490 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,187 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in NetApp by 82.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.33. 2,124,805 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,401,973. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $20.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.28. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.54 and a fifty-two week high of $112.48.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 109.49% and a net margin of 15.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is 45.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on NetApp from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on NetApp from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wedbush increased their target price on NetApp from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NetApp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on NetApp from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $89,730.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,095.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.75, for a total transaction of $770,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,660,024.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $89,730.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,095.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,371 shares of company stock valued at $4,139,505. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.