Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 9,924 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its NetApp stake by 8.2% in the first quarter, selling 9,924 shares and leaving it with 111,323 shares worth about $11.4 million.
• NetApp reported mixed quarterly results: earnings of $2.03 per share missed estimates, but revenue of $1.95 billion topped expectations and rose 12.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with the stock carrying a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $169.33, while NetApp also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,323 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 9,924 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of NetApp worth $11,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of NetApp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,192,354 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,091,499,000 after buying an additional 115,451 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in NetApp by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $458,060,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in NetApp by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,127,533 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $442,018,000 after purchasing an additional 611,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in NetApp by 12.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,317,605 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $393,027,000 after purchasing an additional 370,405 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NetApp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $154.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $192.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $141.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total transaction of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,106,972 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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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