NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Receives $119.27 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.79.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of NetApp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anders Gustafsson acquired 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.00 per share, for a total transaction of $254,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,348 shares in the company, valued at $577,668. This trade represents a 78.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 528 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $48,882.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,282. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,026 shares of company stock valued at $2,549,860. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 375.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in NetApp by 826.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter worth about $29,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Trading Up 1.6%

NTAP opened at $106.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $91.54 and its 200-day moving average is $106.55. NetApp has a 52-week low of $71.84 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 123.63%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that NetApp will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.62%.

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.