StockNews.com Downgrades NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) to Hold

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Susquehanna cut NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.07.

NetApp Trading Down 15.4 %

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $100.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. NetApp has a 52-week low of $88.49 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total transaction of $1,509,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total value of $2,529,780.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. This represents a 44.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,903 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,341 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,040,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in NetApp by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 19,907 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,311,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in NetApp by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in NetApp by 602.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 29,391 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,412,000 after buying an additional 25,209 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Company 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.