iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,818 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $2,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in NetApp by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Talos Asset Management LP bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $4,469,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in NetApp by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 658,213 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $76,405,000 after acquiring an additional 147,962 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in NetApp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 94,682 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in NetApp by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,927 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $1,045,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $48,882.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,900 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,931 shares of company stock valued at $6,252,759. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Down 1.5 %

NetApp stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.27. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.88 and a 52 week high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Susquehanna cut shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.07.

NetApp 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.