Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) Shares Up 6% – Still a Buy?

Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) shares traded up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.75 and last traded at $51.1750. 3,329,070 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 3,073,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NTNX shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Nutanix from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Nutanix in a research note on Monday, November 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Nutanix from $71.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Nutanix from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Nutanix from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.13.

Nutanix Trading Up 5.7%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a PE ratio of 68.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.53.

Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The technology company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.41. Nutanix had a negative return on equity of 32.95% and a net margin of 8.43%.The company had revenue of $670.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Nutanix’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nutanix will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Teresa Gayle Sheppard sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $267,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,713,152. The trade was a 13.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rajiv Ramaswami sold 144,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $11,058,508.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 524,608 shares in the company, valued at $40,090,543.36. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nutanix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Nutanix in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nutanix by 42.6% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nutanix in the second quarter worth about $45,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nutanix by 3,122.7% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 709 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of Nutanix during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 85.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nutanix

Nutanix, Inc engages in the provision of a cloud platform leveraging web-scale engineering and consumer-grade design. It operates through the following geographic segments: United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Other Americas. The firm also provides software solutions and cloud services to customers’ enterprise infrastructure.