NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, now owning approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $17.7 million.
• NetApp's quarterly earnings exceeded revenue expectations at $1.56 billion, but reported an EPS of $1.19, missing forecasts by $0.35.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share with a dividend yield of 1.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of 36.75%.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,883 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,122 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of NetApp worth $17,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth $202,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,140 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $255,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,201 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 255.9% in the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 9,601 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 6,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of NetApp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, October 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $121.40.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $120.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.84 and a 12 month high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.04.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The data storage provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.35). NetApp had a return on equity of 123.24% and a net margin of 17.77%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.600-7.900 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 1.840-1.940 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total value of $1,075,462.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 274,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,792,629.58. This trade represents a 3.08% 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. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 779 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $94,936.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,529 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,874. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.

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