1,522,888 Shares in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 1.52 million NetApp shares valued at approximately $235.7 million, representing about 0.78% of the company. Institutional investors now own 92.17% of NetApp.
• NetApp reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.58 and revenue of $2.02 billion exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose nearly 30% year over year. Analysts remain mixed, with an average “Hold” rating and a $193.86 price target.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, or $2.08 annually, equating to an approximately 1.1% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,522,888 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $235,682,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.78% of NetApp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NTAP. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,320,000. Man Group plc purchased a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth $22,016,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth $5,011,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in NetApp in the second quarter worth $1,395,423,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $8,931,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $199.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $193.86.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $191.49 on Thursday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $209.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average is $183.59 and its 200 day moving average is $146.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. NetApp's payout ratio is presently 29.34%.

More NetApp News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp’s latest quarterly results showed substantial momentum: earnings per share of $2.58 exceeded the $2.12 consensus estimate, while revenue of approximately $2.02 billion surpassed expectations of $1.84 billion and increased nearly 30% year over year. The company also issued fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $9.73 to $10.03.
• Positive Sentiment: An upbeat earnings-call outlook highlighted demand for AI-related infrastructure, cloud services and data management, reinforcing the investment case for NetApp’s growth.
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp announced a partnership with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, expanding its NFL sponsorship presence and promoting its data, analytics and cloud capabilities. The deal is primarily a branding initiative but could improve visibility with enterprise customers. NetApp and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Partner to Enable Data-Driven Operational Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive after the earnings report. Barclays raised its price target to $219 with an overweight rating, while Evercore set a $210 target. The broader consensus rating remains Hold, with an average target of $193.86.
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, equivalent to $2.08 annually and a yield of about 1.1%, providing continued shareholder income.
• Neutral Sentiment: NetApp’s strong stock performance has lifted its valuation to roughly 27 times earnings. Shares remain above both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating strong momentum but also leaving less room for disappointment.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares, including CEO George Kurian, who sold 40,000 shares worth approximately $7.7 million, and Director Deepak Ahuja, who sold about $684,000. Additional executive and director sales were also reported. These transactions may create modest sentiment pressure, although the insiders retained significant holdings and the filings do not establish a bearish outlook.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,526 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.04, for a total value of $684,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,155,866.56. This trade represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Nevens sold 5,940 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.21, for a total value of $1,159,547.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,512,291.87. This trade represents a 43.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 104,538 shares of company stock worth $18,241,313. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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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