NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.3333.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America boosted their target price on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $161.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.27. The stock has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $192.83. 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 (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp 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 value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,500 shares of company stock valued at $448,955. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in NetApp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,559 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.