NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $89.06 and last traded at $89.16, with a volume of 376180 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.41. The stock has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total transaction of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 27,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,116,114.01. This represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 451 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total transaction of $52,672.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,005 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,931 shares of company stock valued at $6,252,759 in the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 826.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in NetApp by 929.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.