NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) is AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,620 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,793 shares during the quarter. NetApp comprises about 2.8% of AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $7,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 4.1% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 10,083 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth about $232,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in NetApp by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 83,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $10,690,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 218,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,132,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 3,521.9% in the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total transaction of $954,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,604,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total transaction of $60,147.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,581,670.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total transaction of $954,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,604,271.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,786 shares of company stock worth $5,395,146 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $115.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.91. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $135.01. The company has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.47.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 121.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 44.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on NetApp from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, August 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.06.

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.