NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• KBC Group NV significantly increased its NetApp stake in the first quarter, lifting holdings by 234.8% to 791,848 shares worth about $81.1 million. Institutional investors now own roughly 92.17% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally cautious, with several firms raising price targets while keeping neutral or hold ratings. NetApp’s consensus rating is currently “Hold,” with an average target price of $169.33.
• NetApp posted solid revenue growth but missed earnings estimates in its latest quarter, reporting $2.03 EPS versus $2.27 expected while revenue rose 12.5% year over year to $1.95 billion. The company also maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, yielding about 1.3%.

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 234.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 791,848 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 555,356 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.40% of NetApp worth $81,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $458,060,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in NetApp by 378.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,329,475 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,125,000 after buying an additional 1,051,863 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $215,987,000 after acquiring an additional 886,485 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the first quarter valued at about $89,977,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 71.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,218 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $219,058,000 after acquiring an additional 771,835 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on NetApp and kept its $200 price target, citing the company’s AI-driven storage capabilities and potential to support emerging “agentic” workloads. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna reportedly had a largely positive view of NetApp heading into the second half of the year, reinforcing optimism around the stock’s outlook after recent earnings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp’s acquisition of DataPelago was framed as a strategic move to make data AI-ready at the infrastructure layer, potentially strengthening its long-term position in AI and analytics. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary said NetApp stock is pausing after earnings, with support at the 10-week moving average potentially offering an entry point for investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage highlighted NetApp as a long-term growth name and noted new trading products tied to the stock, which may be helping keep investor attention elevated. Article Title

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock opened at $163.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company's 50-day moving average price is $153.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.61. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The company has a market cap of $32.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. 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 expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NTAP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report).

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.