OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $2.10 Million in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 20,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $458,060,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in NetApp by 378.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,329,475 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,125,000 after buying an additional 1,051,863 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in NetApp by 94.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $215,987,000 after buying an additional 886,485 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,218 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $219,058,000 after acquiring an additional 771,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the business’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 transaction of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,279,913.56. This trade represents 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 have sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,106,972. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTAP. Weiss Ratings raised NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $152.45 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.56 and a 200-day moving average of $115.39. The company has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released 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 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 firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.70%.

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.