Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 10,431.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,651 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in NetApp by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 784 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.4% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 6,149 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 4.3% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 876 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 18,920 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,437,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $126.18 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.24. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.56 and a 1-year high of $135.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a return on equity of 123.63% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NetApp from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on NetApp from $119.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $1,071,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,922,233.58. The trade was a 2.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total transaction of $88,971.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,694 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,782.80. This represents a 5.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.