NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• NetApp shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $129.60 and ending around $133.96, following an 11.1% move higher. The stock’s surge came despite analyst sentiment remaining mostly cautious.
• Recent analyst updates were mixed, with several firms cutting ratings or trimming price targets. NetApp’s consensus rating is still Hold, with an average target price of $122.27.
• The company reported solid fiscal Q4 results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised guidance for Q4 2026 and FY 2026. NetApp additionally paid a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, yielding about 1.5% annually.

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $129.60 and last traded at $133.9590, with a volume of 235873 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $123.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of NetApp from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NetApp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of NetApp from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.27.

NetApp Trading Up 11.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $106.88 and its 200 day moving average is $106.57. The company has a market capitalization of $27.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.28.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 3rd were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. NetApp's payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $130,800. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,275 shares of company stock worth $347,650. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 432,772 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $51,266,000 after acquiring an additional 20,089 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in NetApp by 216.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $109,875,000 after acquiring an additional 634,085 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in NetApp by 26.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 159,274 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $18,868,000 after acquiring an additional 32,833 shares in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $21,234,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $28,136,000 after buying an additional 135,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

NetApp Company 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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