Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Trims Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE decreased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 54.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,870 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,416 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in NetApp were worth $294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 1.1% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings in NetApp by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $582,296,000 after buying an additional 718,409 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at about $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 17.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of NetApp by 12.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,317,605 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $393,027,000 after buying an additional 370,405 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NTAP shares. Argus raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,106,972. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $154.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.44. The stock has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. 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, analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 32.70%.

NetApp 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.