NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $124.0667.

NTAP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on NetApp from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.85, for a total transaction of $925,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,879,438.80. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total value of $105,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,462,280.90. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,921,775. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 287.9% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 256 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 375.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 300.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock opened at $125.09 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $135.45.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

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.