NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $122.4167.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Citigroup upped their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on NetApp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NetApp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $101.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.39. NetApp has a 52-week low of $71.84 and a 52-week high of $126.66.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 118.11%. NetApp’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. NetApp has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.920-8.020 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NetApp will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.67, for a total transaction of $100,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,855.94. This trade represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $309,610 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the second quarter worth approximately $315,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the second quarter worth approximately $220,000. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 36.4% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 92.2% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,802 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

About NetApp

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.