Royal Fund Management LLC Buys 3,100 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 60.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,198 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in NetApp in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $173.98 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $162.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.57. The stock has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total value of $170,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,283.24. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NTAP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus raised their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.