MML Investors Services LLC Has $1.53 Million Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,357 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 2,833.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock opened at $122.49 on Wednesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.62 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $122.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.12. The stock has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.23.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a return on equity of 123.63% and a net margin of 17.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTAP. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NetApp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital raised NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.20.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total transaction of $397,393.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,096.71. The trade was a 26.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $38,285.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,049 shares of company stock worth $2,807,851. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp 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.