NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) EVP John Downing Sells 3,000 Shares

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total value of $72,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,036. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

NetScout Systems Price Performance

NetScout Systems stock opened at $24.18 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.59. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.10 and a 1-year high of $27.89. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -4.13 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. NetScout Systems had a negative net margin of 50.90% and a positive return on equity of 6.76%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTCT. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of NetScout Systems by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in NetScout Systems by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in NetScout Systems by 3.5% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 15,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 2.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NTCT. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

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.