Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Price

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $115.00 to $180.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lowered NetApp from a “neutral” rating to a “mixed” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered NetApp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered NetApp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on NetApp from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.50.

NetApp Stock Performance

NTAP opened at $174.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $34.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.46 and a 200-day moving average of $107.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. NetApp 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 the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous 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, equities research analysts expect that NetApp will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,800. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,275 shares of company stock valued at $347,650 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying 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 valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 7.5% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 136,769 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 203.1% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 44,831 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,590,000 after acquiring an additional 30,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 124.3% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,138 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after acquiring an additional 15,594 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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

NetApp Company Profile

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.