NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $143.65 and last traded at $142.74, with a volume of 6025324 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $138.95.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.50.

NetApp Trading Up 22.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 126.01% and a net margin of 18.43%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

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

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,275 shares of company stock valued at $347,650. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 60.8% in the first quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 8,198 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in NetApp by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,956,339 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $200,310,000 after buying an additional 136,769 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in NetApp by 203.1% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 44,831 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,590,000 after buying an additional 30,038 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 124.3% in the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,138 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 15,594 shares during the period. 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.