Aurora Investment Counsel Buys Shares of 13,536 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Aurora Investment Counsel initiated a position in NetApp, purchasing 13,536 shares valued at approximately $2.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.17% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a cautious outlook, with five Buy ratings and ten Hold ratings producing a consensus Hold rating and a $177.25 price target, below NetApp’s reported $194.48 share price.
• NetApp’s latest revenue rose 12.5% year over year to $1.95 billion, exceeding estimates, although earnings of $2.03 per share missed expectations. Insiders have sold 55,297 shares worth $8.76 million over the past 90 days.

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,536 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,095,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NTAP. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.25.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total value of $533,283.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 46,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $8,758,016. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Trading Down 5.0%

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $194.48 on Thursday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $209.06. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $171.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.81. 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 company has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.70%.

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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