JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Price

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $110.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush upped their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Northland Securities upped their target price on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.50.

NetApp Stock Up 22.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $174.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. NetApp has a 52-week low of $93.69 and a 52-week high of $192.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.95. The company has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 126.01%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NetApp will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,275 shares of company stock valued at $347,650 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 115,451 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 718,409 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $442,018,000 after purchasing an additional 611,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in NetApp by 127.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,912 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $1.95 billion, topping estimates and rising 12.5% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS came in at $2.43, also above expectations. NetApp Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued FY2027 guidance above Wall Street estimates, pointing to revenue of about $7.3 billion-$7.6 billion and EPS of $8.70-$9.00, which supports optimism for continued growth and margin expansion. Why NetApp Stock Soared 35% Friday Morning
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts sharply lifted price targets after the report, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wedbush, Susquehanna, Northland, and Wells Fargo, signaling that the earnings beat may lead to higher estimates even if several firms kept neutral or hold-type ratings. Analyst price target updates
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp also announced a quarterly dividend and a new $1 billion share repurchase program, adding to shareholder returns and potentially supporting the stock. NetApp Announces New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program

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.