NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Trading Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

Shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) fell 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $20.81 and last traded at $21.04. 41,068 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 535,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTCT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Trading Up 1.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -3.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total value of $72,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,161,036. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $152,555.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,661.83. The trade was a 15.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetScout Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NTCT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 4.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,929,551 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,975,000 after purchasing an additional 81,154 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 80,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 28,583 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 28.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 163,272 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 36,075 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,783,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in NetScout Systems by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,251,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,100,000 after acquiring an additional 85,713 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.