Short Interest in NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) Grows By 37.2%

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a growth of 37.2% from the February 13th total of 1,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 438,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $287,016.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,706,955.12. The trade was a 14.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total value of $152,555.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,661.83. This trade represents a 15.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 in the last quarter. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTCT. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 224,935.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,056,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055,913 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,118,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $89,202,000 after purchasing an additional 448,537 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in NetScout Systems by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 388,286 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,410,000 after purchasing an additional 224,925 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetScout Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,480,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 102.9% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 392,566 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 199,079 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTCT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

NTCT stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 442,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,278. NetScout Systems has a 12 month low of $17.10 and a 12 month high of $27.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.54 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.88.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last posted its quarterly 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 positive return on equity of 6.76% and a negative net margin of 50.90%. On average, analysts expect that NetScout Systems will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

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.