Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Acquires 44,611 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension boosted its NetApp stake by 22.5% in the first quarter, buying 44,611 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 242,897 shares worth about $24.9 million.
• NetApp reported quarterly EPS of $2.03, missing analyst expectations, but revenue came in stronger than expected at $1.95 billion and rose 12.5% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share payable July 29, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $169.33.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension increased its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 242,897 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,611 shares during the quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned approximately 0.12% of NetApp worth $24,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,869,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $458,060,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in NetApp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $28,136,000 after purchasing an additional 135,715 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in NetApp by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in NetApp by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $10,397,000 after buying an additional 17,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $163.93 on Tuesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm's 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 51,964 shares of company stock worth $8,010,722 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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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