NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT)’s stock price traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.86 and last traded at $20.90. 37,277 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 507,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTCT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 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%. Equities analysts expect that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jean A. Bua sold 11,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $287,016.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,706,955.12. The trade was a 14.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total transaction of $72,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 130,352 shares in the company, valued at $3,161,036. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTCT. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of NetScout Systems by 224,935.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,056,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055,913 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in NetScout Systems by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,118,267 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,202,000 after purchasing an additional 448,537 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NetScout Systems by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 388,286 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,410,000 after purchasing an additional 224,925 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetScout Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,480,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in NetScout Systems by 102.9% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 392,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after purchasing an additional 199,079 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NetScout Systems Company 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.