Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Sells 116 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV reduced its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 790 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in NetApp were worth $83,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in NetApp by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 3,639 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 311 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,209 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,633,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 16,283 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $89,730.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,095.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $876,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 252,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,068,738.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $89,730.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,095.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $138.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of NetApp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.81.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $127.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $130.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.95.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.32. NetApp had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 114.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.10%.

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.