Insider Selling: NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) CEO Sells $2,100,400.00 in Stock

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) CEO George Kurian sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.04, for a total transaction of $2,100,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 208,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,801,111.48. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

George Kurian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 29th, George Kurian sold 50,000 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.95, for a total transaction of $10,497,500.00.
• On Thursday, September 24th, George Kurian sold 37,000 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,398,150.00.
• On Monday, September 21st, George Kurian sold 13,000 shares of NetApp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.01, for a total transaction of $2,600,130.00.
• On Monday, September 14th, George Kurian sold 40,000 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total transaction of $7,656,800.00.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $235.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $196.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.60. The company has a market capitalization of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $238.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.24.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The company’s revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. 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 predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. NetApp’s payout ratio is currently 29.34%.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 90.8% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore upgraded NetApp to Buy, citing an improved outlook and arguing that the company does not need major new products to generate further upside. The call helped push NTAP to a new record high and reinforced bullish sentiment after its recent rally. NetApp stock scores analyst upgrade to buy after big rally
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp and Oracle announced a partnership for a fully managed cloud-storage service. The offering could strengthen NetApp’s position in hybrid-cloud infrastructure and broaden recurring service opportunities for enterprise customers. NetApp and Oracle Partner to Provide Fully Managed Cloud Storage Service
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp is partnering with Diskover Data to improve data discovery across file-heavy environments. The collaboration aligns with growing demand for artificial intelligence and unstructured-data management. NetApp Teams With Diskover Data to Unlock Data Value
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive: NetApp’s latest quarterly revenue rose nearly 30% year over year to about $2.03 billion, while EPS of $2.58 exceeded the $2.12 consensus estimate. The company also issued fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $9.73–$10.03.
• Neutral Sentiment: NetApp’s $0.52 quarterly dividend has an October 9 ex-dividend date, equivalent to a $2.08 annualized payout and approximately a 0.9% yield. The dividend may attract income-oriented investors but is unlikely to be a major valuation driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling could temper enthusiasm. CEO George Kurian sold 10,000 shares, following several earlier sales, while director Carrie Palin sold 5,000 shares. These transactions reduce insider holdings but do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical indicators show NTAP is potentially overbought, with its relative strength index above 70. After the sharp advance, momentum investors may face increased volatility or profit-taking risk. Top 3 Tech Stocks That May Fall Off A Cliff In Q4

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on NetApp from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $300.00 price target on NetApp in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.20.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc develops intelligent data infrastructure and data management solutions for enterprises, service providers, and government organizations. The company helps customers store, manage, protect, and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds, public clouds, and hybrid multicloud infrastructures.

Its portfolio includes enterprise storage systems, all-flash arrays, cloud-connected storage, object storage, and data management software. NetApp’s offerings include the ONTAP data management operating system, AFF and ASA storage systems, StorageGRID object storage, and BlueXP, a platform designed to help customers manage data and storage resources across multiple environments.