Wall Street Zen Downgrades NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) to Buy

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on NTAP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.33.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock opened at $168.87 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $192.83. The stock has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NetApp will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,010,722. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 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.