NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.3333.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. 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 boosted their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $165.40 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $192.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.85.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 research analysts forecast that NetApp will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,106,972. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 5.4% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,461 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in NetApp by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,168 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $8,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in NetApp by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 48,316 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $7,477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in NetApp by 586.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 340,130 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $52,639,000 after purchasing an additional 290,602 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.