NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Trading 4.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) traded up 4.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $21.07 and last traded at $21.07. 48,675 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 663,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of NetScout Systems in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded NetScout Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

NetScout Systems Stock Up 3.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 0.58.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.16. NetScout Systems had a positive return on equity of 5.35% and a negative net margin of 74.02%. The firm had revenue of $174.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at NetScout Systems

In related news, insider Jean A. Bua sold 19,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.37, for a total transaction of $391,205.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,601,041.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John Downing sold 4,247 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $84,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 131,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,631,800. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jean A. Bua sold 19,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.37, for a total value of $391,205.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,601,041.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,952 shares of company stock worth $598,411. 3.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTCT. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in NetScout Systems by 375.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,100,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,128,000 after buying an additional 868,955 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in NetScout Systems by 74.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 846,435 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,481,000 after buying an additional 361,245 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in NetScout Systems in the second quarter worth about $6,015,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NetScout Systems by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,230,849 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $201,602,000 after buying an additional 223,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in NetScout Systems by 181.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 304,583 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,565,000 after buying an additional 196,218 shares in the last quarter. 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.