NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $91.07 and last traded at $91.01, with a volume of 563653 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTAP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Down 1.8 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total value of $52,672.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,063.95. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.74, for a total value of $1,509,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 123,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,880,359.82. This represents a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,903 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,341 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in NetApp by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,778 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in NetApp by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 549 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,906 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.