NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Holdings Lifted by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of the State of Kentucky increased its NetApp stake by 14.8% in the first quarter, buying 33,000 more shares and bringing its position to 255,693 shares worth about $26.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on NetApp is mixed but generally cautious: analysts now have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $169.33, even as several firms recently raised their targets.
• NetApp reported quarterly revenue of $1.95 billion, topping estimates, but EPS of $2.03 missed expectations; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, payable July 29.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,693 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 33,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.13% of NetApp worth $26,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its position in NetApp by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NTAP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president directly owned 46,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. This represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,010,722. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $168.87 on Monday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $148.15 and its 200-day moving average is $118.68. The stock has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The company'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. Equities analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders 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 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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