NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Stake Cut by Geode Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management trimmed its NetApp stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 101,027 shares and leaving it with 6.32 million shares valued at about $676 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: NetApp has an average Hold rating, though several firms recently raised price targets, including Bank of America, Barclays, and Citigroup.
• NetApp’s latest earnings showed revenue beat estimates at $1.95 billion, but EPS missed expectations at $2.03; the company also issued strong FY2027 guidance and announced a quarterly dividend plus a new $1 billion buyback program.

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,316,316 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 101,027 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 3.19% of NetApp worth $675,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,218 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $219,058,000 after purchasing an additional 771,835 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $582,296,000 after purchasing an additional 718,409 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,544,513 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $164,568,000 after purchasing an additional 700,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 216.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $109,875,000 after purchasing an additional 634,085 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NTAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded NetApp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays raised their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $157.50.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $1.95 billion, topping estimates and rising 12.5% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS came in at $2.43, also above expectations. NetApp Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued FY2027 guidance above Wall Street estimates, pointing to revenue of about $7.3 billion-$7.6 billion and EPS of $8.70-$9.00, which supports optimism for continued growth and margin expansion. Why NetApp Stock Soared 35% Friday Morning
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts sharply lifted price targets after the report, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wedbush, Susquehanna, Northland, and Wells Fargo, signaling that the earnings beat may lead to higher estimates even if several firms kept neutral or hold-type ratings. Analyst price target updates
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp also announced a quarterly dividend and a new $1 billion share repurchase program, adding to shareholder returns and potentially supporting the stock. NetApp Announces New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $174.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $34.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $112.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.95. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 126.01%. The business's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,275 shares of company stock worth $347,650 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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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