Zacks Research Upgrades NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) to “Strong-Buy”

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised NetScout Systems from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NetScout Systems presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

NTCT stock opened at $38.04 on Wednesday. NetScout Systems has a 52 week low of $22.47 and a 52 week high of $45.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.76 and its 200 day moving average is $36.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 0.69.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $210.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.17 million. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NetScout Systems will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Sanjay Munshi sold 2,269 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $89,103.63. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,247.83. This trade represents a 25.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Downing sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.41, for a total value of $307,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 127,809 shares in the company, valued at $4,909,143.69. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,269 shares of company stock worth $718,704. Corporate insiders own 4.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTCT. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in NetScout Systems by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,011 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 92.8% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetScout Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetScout Systems during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NetScout Systems

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout’s flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.