Entropy Technologies LP Has $3.78 Million Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 138.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,883 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,392 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $3,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of NetApp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,091,499,000 after purchasing an additional 115,451 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,127,533 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $442,018,000 after purchasing an additional 611,003 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 127.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,912 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NTAP shares. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna upped their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.33.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $167.74 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $192.83. The firm has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.95 and a 200 day moving average of $122.54. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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. As a group, research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total value of $170,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,349,283.24. The trade was a 3.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.