Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases 1,557 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 51.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,579 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in NetApp by 826.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on NTAP shares. Northland Securities lifted their price target on NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on NetApp from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total value of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 27,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. The trade was a 44.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 123,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,880,359.82. The trade was a 9.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $92.25 on Friday. 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 $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $112.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.08. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $89.88 and a 52-week high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

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.