Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $228.91 Million Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,971,899 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 103,698 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.97% of NetApp worth $228,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in NetApp by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,744,058 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $202,450,000 after acquiring an additional 135,751 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,171 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 34,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,063,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in NetApp by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 14,788 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total transaction of $1,775,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total transaction of $1,509,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. The trade was a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,676 shares of company stock valued at $4,400,146. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $81.68 on Tuesday. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTAP. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America raised NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.07.

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.