NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Price Target Raised to $171.00 at Northland Securities

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its target price boosted by Northland Securities from $137.00 to $171.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Northland Securities currently has an outperform rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

NTAP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered NetApp from a “neutral” rating to a “mixed” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered NetApp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.50.

NetApp Stock Up 22.4%

NetApp stock opened at $174.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28. NetApp has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $192.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.95.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. 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 research analysts forecast that NetApp will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.70%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value 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. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NetApp by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 4,232 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of NetApp by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More NetApp News

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.