NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded NetApp to “Strong Buy” from “Hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $192.07.
• NetApp reported a strong quarter, posting EPS of $2.58 versus the $2.12 estimate and revenue of about $2.02 billion versus $1.84 billion expected; revenue rose 29.9% year over year.
• Shares opened at $183.60, while insiders sold approximately $8.56 million worth of stock over the past three months, including substantial sales by the president and an executive vice president.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

NTAP has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on NetApp from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Northland Securities raised their price target on NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Evercore set a $210.00 price target on NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $192.07.

NetApp Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $183.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.50. NetApp has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $209.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 119.13%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth O'Callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,072 shares of company stock valued at $8,556,040 in the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Improved earnings outlook: Northland Securities retained an “Outperform” rating and raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $8.14 from $7.11 and its FY2028 estimate to $9.15 from $7.85. It also increased estimates for several upcoming quarters, including Q2 2027 and Q3 2027. The firm’s price target is $187. Northland Securities estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Positive momentum and investor attention: Zacks added NTAP to its Rank #1 “Strong Buy” momentum list, while a separate Zacks report identified NetApp as a heavily watched stock. These designations may support near-term buying interest. Zacks momentum stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating performance: NetApp’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.58 versus the $2.12 consensus and revenue of $2.03 billion versus $1.84 billion expected. Revenue increased 29.9% year over year, and management provided FY2027 EPS guidance of $9.73–$10.03.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains a consideration: Citi reiterated a Hold rating while maintaining a $190 target, acknowledging an attractive AI-driven growth outlook but viewing the shares as fairly valued. Citi NetApp rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is unreliable: The report lists September short interest at zero shares and describes the change as “NaN,” making it unusable as a meaningful signal about short covering or bearish positioning.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc NASDAQ: NTAP is a data infrastructure and cloud storage company that helps organizations manage, protect and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds and public clouds. Its offerings are designed to support enterprise workloads such as databases, business applications, artificial intelligence and virtualized computing.

The company's portfolio includes all-flash and hybrid storage systems, cloud storage services, data management software and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.

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