Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Lowers Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,039 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 25.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 30.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,443 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 6.8% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 25.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 234.9% during the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 6,081 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 4,265 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Down 15.4 %

NetApp stock opened at $100.00 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.49 and a 1-year high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.83.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.52%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.04, for a total transaction of $1,011,840.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 266,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,755,705.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.75, for a total value of $54,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,024.75. This trade represents a 3.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,903 shares of company stock worth $7,260,341. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lowered NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.07.

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.