NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Sold by Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC

Key Points

• Counterpoint Mutual Funds cut its NetApp position by 88.5% in the third quarter, selling 41,879 shares and retaining 5,420 shares worth approximately $1.14 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.17% of the company.
• NetApp reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.58 per share and revenue of $2.02 billion, exceeding estimates and marking 29.9% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $213.20, while NetApp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, equivalent to a 1.0% annualized yield.

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lowered its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 88.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,420 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 41,879 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC's holdings in NetApp were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in NetApp during the second quarter valued at $2,925,168,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,395,423,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $374,549,000 after buying an additional 2,046,912 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $258,093,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,682,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.42, for a total value of $237,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,060,158.54. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Nevens sold 5,940 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.21, for a total transaction of $1,159,547.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,747 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,291.87. This trade represents a 43.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 173,524 shares of company stock valued at $35,018,126 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Loop Capital set a $300.00 target price on NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised NetApp to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on NetApp from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $213.20.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $203.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $240.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $201.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.26.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 29.34%.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc develops intelligent data infrastructure and data management solutions for enterprises, service providers, and government organizations. The company helps customers store, manage, protect, and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds, public clouds, and hybrid multicloud infrastructures.

Its portfolio includes enterprise storage systems, all-flash arrays, cloud-connected storage, object storage, and data management software. NetApp's offerings include the ONTAP data management operating system, AFF and ASA storage systems, StorageGRID object storage, and BlueXP, a platform designed to help customers manage data and storage resources across multiple environments.

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