NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $169.3333.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,063,912. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTAP. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth $2,925,168,000. State Street Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 115,451 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 718,409 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $458,060,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position 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 worth $442,018,000 after purchasing an additional 611,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $189.52 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.96. NetApp has a 12-month low of $93.69 and a 12-month high of $195.70. The firm has a market cap of $37.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.45.

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

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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

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.