NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) President Cesar Cernuda Sells 2,608 Shares

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 46,530 shares in the company, valued at $9,514,454.40. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cesar Cernuda also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 23rd, Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $194.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $209.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $171.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.81.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTAP. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded NetApp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $173.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in NetApp by 38.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,986,000 after buying an additional 4,232 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in NetApp by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in NetApp by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

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.