Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in NetScout Systems, Inc. $NTCT

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585,039 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,782 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in NetScout Systems were worth $18,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NTCT. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 45,892 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,889 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,364 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NetScout Systems in the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in NetScout Systems by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,258,974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,702 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in NetScout Systems in the first quarter worth about $14,137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

NetScout Systems stock opened at $38.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95 and a beta of 0.68. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $45.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NTCT. Wall Street Zen raised NetScout Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut NetScout Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded NetScout Systems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetScout Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

Insider Activity at NetScout Systems

In related news, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.29, for a total value of $322,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 129,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,202,285.09. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.67, for a total value of $203,350.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,450. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.