Citigroup Cuts NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Price Target to $190.00

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $209.00 to $190.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on NetApp from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on NetApp from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.07.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $185.59 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.73 and a 200-day moving average of $140.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NetApp has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 119.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NetApp will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president directly owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 55,072 shares of company stock valued at $8,719,520 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More NetApp News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported record fiscal first-quarter results, with revenue rising 29.9% year over year to $2.03 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, well above consensus estimates of $1.84 billion and approximately $2.13 per share. NTAP Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Hybrid, Public Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS outlook to $9.73-$10.03 and forecast revenue of $7.975-$8.225 billion. Strong hybrid-cloud and public-cloud growth, all-flash storage demand and AI-related infrastructure upgrades are supporting the improved outlook. NetApp FY2027 Forecast and Raised EPS Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts largely raised their targets following the results. Goldman Sachs maintained a $210 target and TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating with a $200 target, while Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $191. NetApp also expanded its AWS relationship by enabling storage migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP through AWS Transform.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Citi downgraded the stock to Neutral with a $190 target, while Wedbush kept a Neutral rating despite raising its target to $170. The target changes suggest limited upside at current levels for some analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: The initial post-earnings selloff reflected a decline in free cash flow and management’s warning that second-quarter gross margin will decrease. Investors appear concerned that strong reported earnings and AI demand may not immediately translate into comparable cash generation.

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.