Wall Street Zen Downgrades NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) to Buy

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NTAP. Citigroup increased their target price on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. 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. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $173.98 on Wednesday. NetApp has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $192.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.10 and a 200-day moving average of $124.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,181,642 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in NetApp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,091,499,000 after acquiring an additional 115,451 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $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 acquiring an additional 611,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during 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 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.