NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stake Increased by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 543,091 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,591 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.27% of NetApp worth $63,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in NetApp by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $241,867,000 after buying an additional 729,394 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of NetApp by 276.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $103,431,000 after acquiring an additional 654,626 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,683,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NetApp by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,985,673 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $738,280,000 after acquiring an additional 453,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,443,974 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,069,617,000 after purchasing an additional 429,343 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.04, for a total value of $1,011,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 266,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,755,705.60. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $48,882.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,194,282. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 in the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $94.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.88 and a fifty-two week 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.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NTAP. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.07.

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.