NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Position Reduced by Sovereign s Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sovereign’s Capital Management cut its NetApp stake by 76% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,134 shares and leaving it with 8,245 shares valued at about $883,000.
• Several analysts turned more positive on NTAP, with upgraded ratings and higher price targets; the consensus rating remains Hold with an average target price of $169.33.
• NetApp reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS estimates but beating revenue expectations, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, or $2.08 annualized.

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 76.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,245 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 26,134 shares during the quarter. Sovereign s Capital Management LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at about $758,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 2,470 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 54,283 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 12,147 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 760.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,260 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 23,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $639,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,112.86. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,500 shares of company stock worth $448,955 in the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetApp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $161.26 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $128.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.01. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The company has a market capitalization of $31.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.44. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 is currently 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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