Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 718,190 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,786,774 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 718,190 shares during the quarter. NetApp accounts for about 1.3% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 6.70% of NetApp worth $1,775,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 706.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.46, for a total transaction of $2,848,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 64,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,583.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.46, for a total value of $2,848,120.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 64,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,583.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total value of $60,147.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,581,670.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,786 shares of company stock worth $5,395,146. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Trading Up 0.5 %

NTAP stock opened at $117.86 on Tuesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $135.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.29.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. NetApp’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 44.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on NetApp from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upped their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.06.

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.