Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 142,261 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Man Group plc bought a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 142,261 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,016,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.07% of NetApp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $193.85 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $174.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $209.06. 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 (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $8,758,016. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus lifted their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.77.

About NetApp

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.