Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 4,277,338 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in NetApp, buying 4,277,338 shares valued at about $458.1 million, which represented 2.16% of the company.
• NetApp recently reported mixed quarterly results: EPS of $2.03 missed estimates, but revenue of $1.95 billion topped expectations and rose 12.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $163.33.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,277,338 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $458,060,000. Norges Bank owned 2.16% of NetApp as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in NetApp by 105.5% during the third quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 224 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 176.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $130,800. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,275 shares of company stock worth $347,650 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $179.70 on Tuesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $113.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.41. The company has a market cap of $35.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NetApp's payout ratio is 32.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. Argus upped their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.33.

NetApp Company 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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