NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded NetApp from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding to a mixed but generally cautious analyst backdrop. The stock’s consensus rating remains “Hold,” with a consensus target price of $169.33.
• NetApp reported mixed quarterly results, posting $2.03 EPS versus the $2.27 estimate, but revenue came in above expectations at $1.95 billion and rose 12.5% year over year.
• Shares were trading higher around $161.61, near the company’s 52-week range of $93.69 to $192.83. Insiders sold a small amount of stock recently, while institutional investors continue to own the vast majority of shares.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

NTAP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus increased their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Trading Up 0.7%

NTAP stock opened at $161.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.27. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,500 shares of company stock valued at $448,955 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in NetApp by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 60.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 8,198 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in NetApp by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,956,339 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $200,310,000 after acquiring an additional 136,769 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in NetApp by 203.1% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 44,831 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $4,590,000 after buying an additional 30,038 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in NetApp by 124.3% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,138 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,881,000 after buying an additional 15,594 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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