AXQ Capital LP Buys New Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• AXQ Capital LP opened a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter, buying 5,825 shares valued at roughly $624,000.
• NetApp’s latest quarterly results were mixed: it beat revenue estimates with $1.95 billion in sales, but missed EPS expectations at $2.03 versus $2.27. Management also pointed to strong AI demand and raised forward guidance for fiscal 2027 and Q1 2027.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.08 and a yield of about 1.1%.

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,825 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in NetApp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,156 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $8,263,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 70.9% in the 4th quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 589,450 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $63,124,000 after purchasing an additional 244,600 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 8,213 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,383 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at $458,060,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $181.08 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $117.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.69 and a 52-week 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.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. 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 expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th 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 of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.70%.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp’s Q4 results and conference-call takeaways pointed to strong AI demand, with management citing 500 AI wins and forecasting faster fiscal 2027 growth as cloud, all-flash storage, and AI adoption continue to build. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance article highlighted that NTAP jumped after raising its AI-led fiscal 2027 margin and EPS outlook, reinforcing the view that profitability could improve alongside growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp announced new collaborations with Cisco on secure, scalable AI infrastructure and cyber-resilience solutions, which may help expand enterprise demand and strengthen the company’s AI positioning. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market articles noted that NTAP is attracting attention as a trending stock and is being compared with peers such as Teradata and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which can support trading interest but does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A market-watch report said NetApp underperformed some peers on Tuesday, suggesting short-term rotation rather than a change in the company’s outlook. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: NetApp CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares, a small insider sale that may create some cautious sentiment even though the transaction is relatively minor. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities upped their price target on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Argus lifted their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $33,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,500 shares of company stock worth $386,145 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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