NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) CEO George Kurian Sells 50,000 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• CEO George Kurian sold 50,000 NetApp shares at an average price of $209.95, generating approximately $10.5 million. He retained 218,537 shares, while the sale reduced his direct ownership by 18.62%.
• NetApp reported quarterly EPS of $2.58 and revenue of $2.02 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up 29.9% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share.
• NetApp shares recently traded near a one-year high, but analysts maintained a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $194.86, reflecting valuation and execution concerns despite optimism around its AI and cloud partnerships.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) CEO George Kurian sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.95, for a total transaction of $10,497,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,881,843.15. The trade was a 18.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

George Kurian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 24th, George Kurian sold 37,000 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total value of $7,398,150.00.
• On Monday, September 21st, George Kurian sold 13,000 shares of NetApp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.01, for a total value of $2,600,130.00.
• On Monday, September 14th, George Kurian sold 40,000 shares of NetApp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total value of $7,656,800.00.

NetApp Stock Up 2.4%

NTAP traded up $4.97 on Thursday, reaching $215.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,347,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,683,509. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $216.81. The business's 50 day moving average is $190.51 and its 200 day moving average is $153.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.NetApp's revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is 29.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in NetApp in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,925,168,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,395,423,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,444,057 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $687,762,000 after purchasing an additional 383,701 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in NetApp by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $374,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,912 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in NetApp by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,129,773 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $218,065,000 after buying an additional 30,559 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure strategy gains support: NetApp unveiled a new architecture for AI factories at its INSIGHT event, prompting favorable analyst reactions. Bank of America said the AI opportunity could support higher growth and raised its price target. NetApp introduces new architecture for AI factories at Insight Bank of America raises NetApp target
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud and AI partnerships broaden growth prospects: Collaborations with Oracle, SAP and Supermicro are designed to expand NetApp’s role in AI and cloud infrastructure. The planned native Oracle Cloud Infrastructure storage service could be rolled out within 12 months, potentially improving access to Oracle’s customer base. NetApp partnerships expand AI strategy NetApp Oracle storage platform
• Positive Sentiment: European sovereignty offering adds a market opportunity: Keystone Sovereign is being positioned for regulated European customers seeking tighter regional and data-handling controls. Keystone Sovereign targets Europe
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner awards reinforce the ecosystem: NetApp recognized its North American partners for helping deliver its solutions and services, supporting channel relationships but offering limited immediate financial impact. NetApp 2026 North America Partner Awards
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks remain: One analysis maintained a “hold” view, arguing that the risk/reward profile is less compelling at current levels. In addition, CEO George Kurian disclosed a preplanned share sale, which may create modest selling pressure but does not necessarily indicate a change in business outlook. NetApp risk-reward analysis NetApp CEO preplanned share sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NTAP. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on NetApp from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NetApp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.86.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc develops intelligent data infrastructure and data management solutions for enterprises, service providers, and government organizations. The company helps customers store, manage, protect, and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds, public clouds, and hybrid multicloud infrastructures.

Its portfolio includes enterprise storage systems, all-flash arrays, cloud-connected storage, object storage, and data management software. NetApp's offerings include the ONTAP data management operating system, AFF and ASA storage systems, StorageGRID object storage, and BlueXP, a platform designed to help customers manage data and storage resources across multiple environments.

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