NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Key Points

• Bank of America raised NetApp’s price target from $180 to $206 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying approximately 10.5% upside from the stock’s quoted price of $186.44.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate NetApp a Buy and 10 rate it a Hold, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $184.08.
• NetApp’s latest quarter showed 12.5% year-over-year revenue growth to $1.95 billion, although adjusted EPS of $2.03 missed estimates of $2.27; insiders have also sold $8.7 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $180.00 to $206.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 10.49% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities raised 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. Evercore set a $210.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $184.08.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $186.44. 539,199 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,676,281. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $209.06. The stock has a market cap of $36.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.27.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that NetApp will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 55,072 shares of company stock valued at $8,719,520 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in NetApp by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of NetApp by 3.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of NetApp by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,559 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 833 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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