UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 168,639 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,765,937 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 168,639 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $341,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in NetApp during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP opened at $122.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.62 and a 12-month high of $135.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 123.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 1,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $208,266.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $1,003,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 288,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,017,276. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.