NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Director Sells $690,000.00 in Stock

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $690,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,562,800. This represents a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Deepak Ahuja also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 14th, Deepak Ahuja sold 3,526 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.04, for a total transaction of $684,185.04.

NetApp Trading Up 2.0%

NetApp stock opened at $201.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $187.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.52. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $209.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.34%.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,480 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden grew its position in shares of NetApp by 168.2% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 106,363 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $16,461,000 after purchasing an additional 66,711 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of NetApp by 145.1% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 539,405 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $83,478,000 after purchasing an additional 319,332 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 165.3% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 11,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 7,041 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 179.8% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 19,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 12,650 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key NetApp News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp plans to acquire UK-based PEAK:AIO, whose metadata technology and high-performance parallel-file architecture are designed for large-scale AI workloads. The deal should expand NetApp’s AI infrastructure capabilities, complement its ONTAP platform and improve its ability to serve increasingly demanding data environments. Financial terms were not disclosed. NetApp plans to acquire AI storage firm PEAK:AIO
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are focusing on NetApp’s raised fiscal 2027 outlook, driven by record first-quarter revenue and strong AI and flash-storage demand. The company recently reported adjusted EPS of $2.58 versus a $2.12 consensus estimate and revenue of roughly $2.03 billion, up nearly 30% year over year. Can AI and Flash Demand Power NetApp’s Raised FY27 Outlook?
• Neutral Sentiment: NetApp’s valuation and analyst backdrop remain mixed. The consensus rating is “Hold,” although some firms have issued bullish ratings and price targets as high as $225. The stock’s rally may already reflect much of the recent earnings strength.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO George Kurian reportedly sold 13,000 shares, while Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,450 shares worth approximately $690,000. These transactions do not affect operations, but insider selling can temper investor sentiment after a substantial share-price advance. NetApp insider share sales

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NTAP. Susquehanna upped their target price on NetApp from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on NetApp from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research raised NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.86.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data infrastructure and cloud storage company that helps organizations manage, protect and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds and public clouds. Its offerings are designed to support enterprise workloads such as databases, business applications, artificial intelligence and virtualized computing.

The company’s portfolio includes all-flash and hybrid storage systems, cloud storage services, data management software and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.