Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its NetApp stake by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,196 shares and leaving it with 25,788 shares valued at about $2.79 million.
• NetApp reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.12 versus the $2.07 consensus and revenue of $1.71 billion, up 4.4% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with several firms lowering ratings and the stock currently carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $122.64.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,788 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 18,196 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in NetApp were worth $2,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS now owns 2,100 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,559 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,398 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $314,650. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP opened at $119.93 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $105.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.50. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.69 and a 12-month high of $126.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. NetApp had a return on equity of 118.11% and a net margin of 18.07%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. NetApp's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.920-8.020 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered NetApp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered NetApp from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup lowered NetApp from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.64.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.