NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,904 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,003 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in NetApp were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $306,440,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $241,867,000 after purchasing an additional 729,394 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 276.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $103,431,000 after purchasing an additional 654,626 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,683,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $738,280,000 after buying an additional 453,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $90.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.40 and a fifty-two week high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.52%.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $1,775,594.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,075,309.20. This represents a 62.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anders Gustafsson acquired 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.00 per share, for a total transaction of $254,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,668. The trade was a 78.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,627 shares of company stock worth $5,498,573. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTAP. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 cut their price objective on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has a consensus 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.