NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Acquired by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 277.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,860 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,510 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 826.9% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value 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. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $92.25 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.88 and a 1 year high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.52%.

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.