NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $81.86 and last traded at $82.85, with a volume of 757712 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $90.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna downgraded shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Down 9.8 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.68. 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 $16.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $1,045,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 271,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,375,824.46. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 19,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $1,775,594.40. Following the transaction, the president now owns 11,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,075,309.20. This trade represents a 62.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,627 shares of company stock worth $5,498,573 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 826.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 929.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

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.