NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Stock: Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its NetApp stake by 55% in the third quarter, selling 353,276 shares and retaining 288,618 shares valued at about $60.6 million.
• NetApp reported quarterly EPS of $2.58, beating the $2.12 consensus, while revenue of $2.02 billion topped estimates and rose 29.9% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $205.24; the stock’s annualized dividend is $2.08 per share, a 1.2% yield.

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 55.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 288,618 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 353,276 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.15% of NetApp worth $60,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth approximately $2,925,168,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in NetApp in the second quarter worth approximately $1,395,423,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 9.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,444,057 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $687,762,000 after acquiring an additional 383,701 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in NetApp by 127.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,046,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in NetApp by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,129,773 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $218,065,000 after acquiring an additional 30,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $176.07 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.32. The company has a market capitalization of $34.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.52. 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.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm'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, analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Loop Capital set a $300.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NetApp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Argus set a $225.00 target price on NetApp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.24.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other NetApp news, Director Carrie Palin sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.43, for a total value of $1,082,150.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,441,423.80. The trade was a 42.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 50,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.95, for a total transaction of $10,497,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,881,843.15. The trade was a 18.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 172,524 shares of company stock worth $34,824,306 over the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc develops data storage and data management technologies for businesses and other organizations. Its offerings support workloads across on-premises infrastructure, public cloud environments and hybrid settings, with services for storing, managing, protecting and moving data.

The company's portfolio includes its ONTAP data management software, all-flash and hybrid-flash storage systems, object storage, and cloud storage and data services. NetApp also provides tools to help customers manage data across different environments and offers infrastructure through its Keystone storage-as-a-service model.

Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance, the company adopted the NetApp name in 2008.

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