NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $143.65 and last traded at $142.74, with a volume of 6025324 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $138.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on NTAP. Weiss Ratings cut NetApp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on NetApp from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut NetApp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.27.

NetApp Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. NetApp had a return on equity of 118.11% and a net margin of 18.07%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,275 shares of company stock valued at $347,650. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NetApp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,091,499,000 after purchasing an additional 115,451 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in NetApp by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $582,296,000 after purchasing an additional 718,409 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,127,533 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $442,018,000 after buying an additional 611,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in NetApp by 127.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,549,000 after buying an additional 2,046,912 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.