Kerrisdale Advisers LLC Lowers Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Kerrisdale Advisers LLC cut its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 39.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,701 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth $2,925,168,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in NetApp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,091,499,000 after purchasing an additional 115,451 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in NetApp in the second quarter worth about $1,395,423,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in NetApp by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $582,296,000 after purchasing an additional 718,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 9.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,444,057 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $687,762,000 after buying an additional 383,701 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $187.02 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.27. The firm has a market cap of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the sale, the president directly owned 46,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Northland Securities raised their price target on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush boosted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.77.

NetApp Profile

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.