Inceptionr LLC Invests $2.22 Million in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 19,089 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,000. NetApp makes up 0.5% of Inceptionr LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in NetApp by 826.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 2,833.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP opened at $94.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $118.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.10. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.59 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. NetApp’s payout ratio is 38.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on NetApp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Susquehanna cut NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upgraded NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on NetApp from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now owns 27,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,116,114.01. This trade represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.29, for a total value of $1,056,465.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,782 shares in the company, valued at $34,774,104.78. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,903 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,341. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.