NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $205.24.
• NetApp reported quarterly EPS of $2.58, beating estimates of $2.12, while revenue reached $2.02 billion—up 29.9% year over year and above expectations.
• Shares opened at $199.18 after falling 8.8%; insiders sold approximately $35.0 million worth of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 92.17% of the company.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

NTAP has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised NetApp to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on NetApp from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.24.

NetApp Stock Down 8.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $199.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.02. NetApp has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $240.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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 analysts expect that NetApp will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, Director Carrie Palin sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.43, for a total value of $1,082,150.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,441,423.80. This represents a 42.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $690,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,562,800. The trade was a 21.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 173,524 shares of company stock worth $35,018,126 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 56.9% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 204 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth $37,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of NetApp by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 292 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc is a data infrastructure and cloud storage company that helps organizations manage, protect and access data across on-premises data centers, public clouds and hybrid environments. Its offerings support enterprise applications, artificial intelligence workloads, business analytics, backup and disaster recovery.

The company's portfolio includes all-flash and hybrid-flash storage systems, the ONTAP data management operating system, StorageGRID object storage and Keystone storage-as-a-service.

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