NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

NTAP has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $185.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.72. NetApp has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 119.13%. NetApp’s revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NetApp will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be 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 is Friday, October 9th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 29.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth O’Callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the sale, 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Company Profile

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.