Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 80,702 Shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 105.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,246 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,702 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in NetScout Systems were worth $3,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 1,214.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,367 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,498 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTCT opened at $20.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.91. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.10 and a 12-month high of $27.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a positive return on equity of 6.76% and a negative net margin of 50.90%. Analysts anticipate that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of NetScout Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total value of $72,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,161,036. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $152,555.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,661.83. This represents a 15.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,499 shares of company stock worth $512,321. Company insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc provides service assurance and cybersecurity solutions for protect digital business services against disruptions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers nGeniusONE management software that enables customers to predict, preempt, and resolve network and service delivery problems, as well as facilitate the optimization and capacity planning of their network infrastructures; and specialized platforms and analytic modules that enable its customers to analyze and troubleshoot traffic in radio access and Wi-Fi networks.