NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) traded down 0.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $21.18 and last traded at $21.31. 41,873 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 435,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on NetScout Systems from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.66 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.81.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetScout Systems news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,036. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Szabados sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total value of $152,555.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 35,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,661.83. This represents a 15.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,499 shares of company stock valued at $512,321. 3.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetScout Systems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,353,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,597,000 after acquiring an additional 64,475 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $89,202,000 after buying an additional 448,537 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,098,279 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,388,000 after purchasing an additional 109,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 224,935.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,056,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,959,996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,445 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NetScout Systems

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.