Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Buys Shares of 159,254 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Aware Super initiated a new position in NetApp during the first quarter, buying 159,254 shares valued at about $16.3 million. The stake represented roughly 0.08% of NetApp at the end of the reporting period.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their NetApp holdings, and 92.17% of the stock is now owned by institutions. Meanwhile, insiders sold shares, including President Cesar Cernuda, and insiders collectively own just 0.28% of the company.
• NetApp’s latest earnings showed mixed results: adjusted EPS of $2.03 missed estimates, while revenue of $1.95 billion topped expectations and rose 12.5% year over year. Analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average, with a consensus price target of $169.33.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 159,254 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,306,000. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super owned approximately 0.08% of NetApp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $458,060,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 378.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,329,475 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,863 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 94.6% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $215,987,000 after acquiring an additional 886,485 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 71.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,218 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $219,058,000 after acquiring an additional 771,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in NetApp by 17.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.33.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $159.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $192.83. The stock has a market cap of $31.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.23.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue 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. On average, analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given 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 yield of 1.3%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.70%.

About NetApp

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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