NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its NetApp stake by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 158,834 shares and leaving it with 1,624,269 shares valued at about $173.9 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised price targets on NTAP, but sentiment remains mixed overall: the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with a consensus target of $169.33.
• NetApp recently reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS estimates but beating revenue expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,624,269 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 158,834 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.82% of NetApp worth $173,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTAP. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in NetApp by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth about $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 9.9% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 4,232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of NetApp by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,500 shares of company stock valued at $448,955. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $159.71 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $130.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $31.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week 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.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp's payout ratio is 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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