NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give NetApp a consensus “Hold” rating: Of 15 brokerages, nine recommend holding the stock, five rate it a buy and one rates it a sell. The average 12-month price target is $169.33, below the reported opening price of $178.50.
• NetApp’s latest quarter showed 12.5% year-over-year revenue growth to $1.95 billion, exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $2.03 missed the $2.27 consensus forecast.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, equal to a $2.08 annualized payout and a 1.2% yield. Insiders sold about $8.18 million of stock over the past three months, while institutional investors own 92.17% of shares.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $169.3333.

A number of research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th.

NetApp Price Performance

NetApp stock opened at $178.50 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $162.88 and a 200-day moving average of $125.07. NetApp has a 52-week low of $93.69 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The business's revenue 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, analysts predict that NetApp will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. NetApp's payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. This represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total transaction of $170,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,349,283.24. The trade was a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,181,642. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in NetApp by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,986,000 after buying an additional 4,232 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

About NetApp

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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