NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) Stock Price Down 6.1% – Time to Sell?

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR)’s share price was down 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $22.80 and last traded at $22.8640. Approximately 230,590 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 499,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTGR. Wall Street Zen raised NETGEAR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research upgraded NETGEAR from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of NETGEAR in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NETGEAR currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

NETGEAR Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $618.66 million, a PE ratio of -26.19 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.26 and a 200-day moving average of $23.53.

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.14. NETGEAR had a negative return on equity of 2.71% and a negative net margin of 3.58%.The firm had revenue of $158.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that NETGEAR, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NETGEAR

In related news, Director Shravan Goli sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total transaction of $90,915.09. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,294.73. This trade represents a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Pramod Badjate sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.47, for a total transaction of $76,410.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 165,513 shares in the company, valued at $4,215,616.11. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,085 shares of company stock worth $318,703. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NETGEAR

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Windward Management LP bought a new stake in shares of NETGEAR during the 4th quarter worth about $35,468,000. Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of NETGEAR in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,020,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in NETGEAR by 87.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 548,911 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,779,000 after purchasing an additional 256,266 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in NETGEAR by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 557,462 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $12,175,000 after purchasing an additional 243,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in NETGEAR during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,266,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NETGEAR

NETGEAR, Inc (NASDAQ: NTGR) is a global provider of networking solutions for consumer, business and service provider markets. The company designs, develops and markets a comprehensive portfolio of products that enable high-speed connectivity, data storage and network security for homes, small to medium-sized businesses and large enterprises.

Its product lineup includes Wi-Fi routers, mesh networking systems, cable modems, mobile broadband gateways and Ethernet switches—offered in both managed and unmanaged configurations.