NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $89.06 and last traded at $89.16, with a volume of 376180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

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 has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.49 and its 200 day moving average is $117.41.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total transaction of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 27,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,116,114.01. This represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at $33,375,824.46. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 in the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of NetApp by 826.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in NetApp by 929.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

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.