L2 Asset Management LLC Takes $13.84 Million Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 89,426 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,839,000. NetApp comprises 1.4% of L2 Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 68.7% in 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 last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on NetApp from $150.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Susquehanna lifted 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. Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush increased their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 46,530 shares in the company, valued at $9,514,454.40. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $8,758,016. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $186.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $209.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.43 and its 200 day moving average is $135.80. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. 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. Research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid 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 currently 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.