Seek First Inc. Takes $207,000 Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Seek First Inc. has purchased a new stake of approximately $207,000 in NetApp, acquiring 2,357 shares of the data storage provider.
• NetApp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $2.08 and a yield of 1.9%.
• Institutional investors own 92.17% of NetApp's stock, with significant positions held by companies like Vanguard Group and Ameriprise Financial.

Seek First Inc. purchased a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,357 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of NetApp by 929.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 278 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 375.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total value of $865,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 296,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,208,812.90. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 302 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.77, for a total transaction of $29,828.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,940.35. This trade represents a 39.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,302 shares of company stock worth $2,026,379. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $109.16. 1,731,877 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,441,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.65.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 126.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.600-7.900 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 1.480-1.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NetApp's payout ratio is 36.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $119.21.

NetApp Profile

NetApp, Inc provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.