NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $194.70 and last traded at $194.8720, with a volume of 932614 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $182.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Northland Securities increased their price objective on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Stock Up 4.1%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.60. The stock has a market cap of $37.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.70%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,181,642. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,210,000. Plan Group Financial LLC bought a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at $386,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,845,000. Tema ETFs LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its holdings in NetApp by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 9,283 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.