NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on NTCT. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of NetScout Systems from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NetScout Systems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

NetScout Systems Stock Performance

NTCT stock opened at $39.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.07 and a beta of 0.61. NetScout Systems has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $39.71.

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $203.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.64 million. NetScout Systems had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. NetScout Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.650-2.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NetScout Systems will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetScout Systems

In other news, EVP John Downing sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $90,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 129,494 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,820. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetScout Systems

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,587 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 32,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 147.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,011 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 6.2% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 10,552 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in NetScout Systems by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More NetScout Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetScout Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetScout beat fiscal Q4 earnings estimates, reporting $0.52 per share versus the $0.46 consensus, and revenue came in ahead of expectations at about $203 million. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also raised FY 2027 guidance to EPS of 2.65-2.80 and revenue of $885 million-$915 million, both above Wall Street estimates, signaling confidence in growth ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said fiscal 2026 results were strong across both top and bottom lines, reinforcing the earnings beat and improving investor sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on NTCT from $29 to $38, but kept a “sector perform” rating, which suggests the recent rally may already reflect much of the near-term upside. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent transcript coverage and valuation commentary may keep attention on the stock, but they do not appear to add a major new catalyst beyond the earnings and guidance update. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One cautionary note is that RBC’s $38 target sits below the current share price, implying limited upside after the post-earnings move. Article Title

NetScout Systems Company Profile

NetScout Systems, Inc is a leading provider of network performance management, service assurance and cybersecurity solutions. The company designs and delivers hardware and software platforms that capture and analyze real-time and historical packet data, enabling IT teams and service providers to monitor application performance, troubleshoot network issues and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. NetScout’s flagship offerings include the nGeniusONE service assurance platform and the InfiniStream packet broker, which together provide end-to-end visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, NetScout has built a reputation for scalable and resilient monitoring infrastructure.