NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,443,974 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 429,343 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.01% of NetApp worth $3,069,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in NetApp by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $241,867,000 after acquiring an additional 729,394 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in NetApp by 276.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $103,431,000 after purchasing an additional 654,626 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $64,683,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in NetApp by 8.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $738,280,000 after buying an additional 453,324 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in NetApp by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,948,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $228,492,000 after buying an additional 397,871 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $94.39 on Wednesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.88 and a 1 year high of $135.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $111.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 38.52%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $48,882.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,282. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. This trade represents a 44.81 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

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.