Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Purchases 156,372 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 689,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,372 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned about 0.33% of NetApp worth $88,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,698,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $149,720,000 after buying an additional 950,204 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in NetApp by 46.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,720 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 5,273 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the 1st quarter valued at about $473,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $802,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 263,103 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $23,195,000 after buying an additional 172,132 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $120.08 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $135.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $123.90 and its 200 day moving average is $116.43. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.23.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 121.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

NetApp announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total value of $954,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,369 shares in the company, valued at $24,604,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total value of $60,147.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,581,670.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total transaction of $954,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,369 shares in the company, valued at $24,604,271.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,452 shares of company stock valued at $4,970,628. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.06.

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.