First Trust Advisors LP Sells 202,503 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP sold 202,503 shares of NetApp, reducing its stake by 12.8% to 1,378,545 shares (about 0.69% of the company) valued at roughly $163.3 million.
• NetApp beat quarterly expectations with $2.12 EPS versus $2.07 and $1.71 billion in revenue (up 4.4% YoY), and issued guidance of Q4 2.210–2.310 EPS and FY2026 7.920–8.020 EPS.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 (ex-dividend April 2, yield ~2.1%), while institutional investors own 92.17% of shares and analysts hold a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $122.42 price target.

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,378,545 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 202,503 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.69% of NetApp worth $163,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in NetApp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 432,772 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $51,266,000 after acquiring an additional 20,089 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 216.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $109,875,000 after acquiring an additional 634,085 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 26.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 159,274 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $18,868,000 after acquiring an additional 32,833 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,810,772 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $192,938,000 after purchasing an additional 66,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 496.7% in the 3rd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 18,168 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 15,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP opened at $101.06 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $126.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $102.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.39.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. NetApp had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 118.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. NetApp's payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.45, for a total value of $103,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,758.75. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTAP. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Northland Securities set a $137.00 price target on NetApp and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.42.

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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