NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Upgraded to “Buy” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Loop Capital currently has $150.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $121.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTAP. UBS Group boosted their price objective on NetApp from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their price target on NetApp from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $129.06.

NetApp Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $118.95 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.08 and a 200-day moving average of $114.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.27. NetApp has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $135.01.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.11. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that NetApp will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

NetApp announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to buy up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,334 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.33, for a total transaction of $424,518.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,565.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total value of $954,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,604,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.33, for a total transaction of $424,518.22. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,565.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,786 shares of company stock valued at $5,395,146 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NetApp by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 311 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of NetApp by 706.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Company Profile

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, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.