NetApp, Inc. provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, NetApp ElementOS software, and NetApp SANtricity software; and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp FlexPod, NetApp E/EF series, NetApp StorageGRID, and NetApp SolidFire. It also provides cloud storage and data services comprising NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, Azure NetApp Files, Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud, NetApp Cloud Sync, NetApp Cloud Tiering, NetApp Cloud Backup, NetApp Cloud Data Sense, and NetApp Cloud Volumes Edge Cache; and cloud operations services, such as NetApp Cloud Insights, Spot Ocean Kubernetes Suite, Spot Security, Spot Eco, and Spot CloudCheckr. In addition, the company offers application-aware data management service under the NetApp Astra name; and professional and support services, such as strategic consulting, professional, managed, and support services. Further, it provides assessment, design, implementation, and migration services. The company serves the energy, financial service, government, technology, internet, life science, healthcare service, manufacturing, media, entertainment, animation, video postproduction, and telecommunication markets through a direct sales force and an ecosystem of partners. NetApp, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on NetApp from $85.00 to $71.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on NetApp from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. Wedbush cut their target price on NetApp from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on NetApp from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 14th. Finally, OTR Global upgraded NetApp to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.55.
NetApp Price Performance
Shares of NTAP traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $73.70. 771,685 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,833,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.50. NetApp has a 52 week low of $61.26 and a 52 week high of $96.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.60 and a 200-day moving average of $75.91. The stock has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.22.
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 1st. The data storage provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.17. NetApp had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 127.40%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. NetApp's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that NetApp will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
NetApp Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 27th. Investors of record on Friday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.78%.
Insider Activity at NetApp
In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 2,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $148,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,780,280. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 2,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $148,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,780,280. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.04 per share, for a total transaction of $360,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 95,875 shares in the company, valued at $6,906,835. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,625 shares of company stock valued at $1,889,651. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.
