Ieq Capital LLC Buys New Stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 25,538 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 32.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 2.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 25.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,606 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 52.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NetScout Systems

In related news, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $287,016.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 71,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,955.12. This trade represents a 14.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total transaction of $72,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 130,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,036. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,499 shares of company stock worth $512,321 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

Shares of NTCT opened at $22.99 on Thursday. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.10 and a fifty-two week high of $27.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.81.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.