Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Trims Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,644,275 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 179,017 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in NetApp were worth $176,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTAP. State Street Corp increased its position in NetApp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,091,499,000 after acquiring an additional 115,451 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in NetApp by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in NetApp by 17.4% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 611,003 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in NetApp by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,317,605 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $393,027,000 after acquiring an additional 370,405 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,500 shares of company stock worth $448,955. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $161.61 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.29. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.69 and a 12-month high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTAP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

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.