NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock 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 $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTAP. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.50.

NetApp Stock 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 stock 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.95.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 126.01% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share 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, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $33,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,275 shares of company stock worth $347,650 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,869,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 432,772 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,266,000 after purchasing an additional 20,089 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 216.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,875,000 after purchasing an additional 634,085 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 26.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 159,274 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,868,000 after purchasing an additional 32,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,136,000 after purchasing an additional 135,715 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.