NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Shares of NetApp carry a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy from 15 firms (8 hold, 6 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $122.42; Goldman Sachs initiated coverage at a $128 buy target and several brokers have lifted targets into the $114–$115 range.
• NetApp beat the quarter with EPS $2.12 vs. $2.07 and revenue $1.71B vs. $1.70B, provided FY2026 guidance of 7.92–8.02 EPS (Q4 2.210–2.310) and announced a $0.52 quarterly dividend (2.0% yield).
• Institutional ownership is very high at 92.17%, including a new ~ $458M stake by Norges Bank and multiple funds raising positions, while insiders own just 0.28% and EVP Elizabeth O'Callahan sold 1,000 shares.

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.4167.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NetApp from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $128.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NetApp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.45, for a total value of $103,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,758.75. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $458,060,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in NetApp by 108.9% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,947,200 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $313,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,112,316 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $756,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,626 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 103.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,783,103 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $211,226,000 after purchasing an additional 907,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 94.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $102.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.03. NetApp has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $126.66. The stock has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.39. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.05. NetApp had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 118.11%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. NetApp's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.920-8.020 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NetApp will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

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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