NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Shares Sold by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,160 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,643,780 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $497,556,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,502,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 254.8% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,304,512 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $241,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,942 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,808,051 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $159,398,000 after purchasing an additional 24,416 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,771,583 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $156,183,000 after purchasing an additional 507,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Up 0.5 %

NTAP opened at $128.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.63. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $130.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 114.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to repurchase up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. 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 currently 43.10%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $876,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 252,702 shares in the company, valued at $26,068,738.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $876,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 252,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,068,738.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $89,730.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,095.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,705 shares of company stock worth $1,391,109 over the last quarter. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of NetApp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on NetApp from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Argus increased their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.81.

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.