Railway Pension Investments Ltd Raises Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its NetApp stake by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 589,450 shares valued at about $63.1 million. The filing also showed several other large institutional investors boosting or initiating positions, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 92.17% of the stock.
• NetApp reported quarterly revenue of $1.95 billion, which beat estimates and rose 12.5% year over year, but earnings per share of $2.03 missed consensus. The company also set FY2027 guidance for $8.70-$9.00 EPS and Q1 2027 EPS of $2.05-$2.15.
• Analysts remained largely cautious despite raising price targets, with the consensus rating still at Hold and an average target of $157.50. NetApp also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share and a new $1 billion share repurchase program.

Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 589,450 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 244,600 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned approximately 0.30% of NetApp worth $63,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at $458,060,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 94.6% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $215,987,000 after purchasing an additional 886,485 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 71.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,218 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $219,058,000 after purchasing an additional 771,835 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 17.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 718,409 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 83.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,544,513 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $164,568,000 after purchasing an additional 700,467 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NetApp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $157.50.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $33,000.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,275 shares of company stock valued at $347,650. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Up 22.4%

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $174.29 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $192.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.46 and a 200 day moving average of $107.95. The firm has a market cap of $34.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 126.01% and a net margin of 18.43%.The firm's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. 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, research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

NetApp News Roundup

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 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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