NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) Shares Bought by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTCT) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,817 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,727 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in NetScout Systems were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTCT. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 316.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,513 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in NetScout Systems by 91.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NTCT. StockNews.com raised shares of NetScout Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Friday, January 31st.

NetScout Systems Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTCT opened at $21.39 on Friday. NetScout Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.10 and a 52 week high of $27.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.64.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts predict that NetScout Systems, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NetScout Systems

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

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.