NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $130.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. NetApp traded as low as $96.38 and last traded at $96.73, with a volume of 1573796 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $99.81.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NTAP. Susquehanna cut NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at $3,116,114.01. This trade represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total transaction of $52,672.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth 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 last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp by 602.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 29,391 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 25,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $118.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.52%.

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.