Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 148,950 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management increased its NetApp stake by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 148,950 additional shares and bringing its holding to 1,128,828 shares worth about $120.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their NetApp positions, and 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• NetApp’s latest quarter showed mixed results: EPS missed expectations at $2.03 vs. $2.27, but revenue beat estimates at $1.95 billion and rose 12.5% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,128,828 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 148,950 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.57% of NetApp worth $120,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,124 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 8,500 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,618 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $7,134,000 after buying an additional 8,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 138,480 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $14,830,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NTAP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Argus increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.33.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $160.66 on Thursday. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company's fifty day moving average is $123.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,500 shares of company stock valued at $285,475. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp 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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