Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in NetApp by 0.2% in Q4, selling 40,973 shares and ending the period with 27,157,594 shares—about 13.71% of the company valued at roughly $2.908 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans to a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $122.64, while firms range from Goldman Sachs' "Buy" at $128 to JPMorgan's cut to "Neutral" with a $110 target.
• NetApp beat quarterly EPS expectations ($2.12 vs. $2.07), provided FY2026 guidance (Q4: 2.210–2.310 EPS; FY: 7.920–8.020 EPS), and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.52 (annual yield ~1.9%).

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,157,594 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 40,973 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.71% of NetApp worth $2,908,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 1.5% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS grew its position in shares of NetApp by 5.0% during the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS now owns 2,100 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 2.0% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in NetApp by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,398 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,824,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NTAP. Weiss Ratings cut NetApp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on NetApp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut NetApp from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $96,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,517.50. This trade represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $300,370. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $108.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.30. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.70 and a 1 year high of $126.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.67. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 118.11% and a net margin of 18.07%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. NetApp has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.920-8.020 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 3rd were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.78%.

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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