NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $91.07 and last traded at $91.01, with a volume of 563653 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.07.

NetApp Trading Down 1.8 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total value of $1,056,465.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,774,104.78. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total transaction of $2,529,780.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 27,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. The trade was a 44.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,903 shares of company stock worth $7,260,341. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 826.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 929.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Company 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.