Zacks Investment Management Cuts Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Zacks Investment Management lowered its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,590 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,257 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in NetApp were worth $6,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTAP. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 34,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,063,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in shares of NetApp by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 14,788 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,906,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $81.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.41. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm 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 2.56%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $1,775,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 11,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,075,309.20. This trade represents a 62.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $1,045,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at $33,375,824.46. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,176 shares of company stock worth $5,445,901 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.73.

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.