Sarasin & Partners LLP Trims Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 33.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 152,975 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 76,937 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $23,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total transaction of $170,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,283.24. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,181,642. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTAP. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Susquehanna raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Five equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $191.48 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $195.70. The stock has a market cap of $37.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $166.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.35.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp’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 research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

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.