Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Sells 96,241 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lessened its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,544,644 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 96,241 shares during the quarter. NetApp accounts for 2.2% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. owned about 1.77% of NetApp worth $377,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in NetApp during the second quarter worth $2,337,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in NetApp by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 60,457 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 3,704 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 814,697 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $71,563,000 after acquiring an additional 122,784 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of NetApp by 119.3% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,869 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $115.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52. NetApp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.84 and a 12-month high of $131.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.66.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The data storage provider reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.17. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.28% and a net margin of 17.73%.The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-8.050 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.110 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. NetApp’s payout ratio is 36.17%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total value of $1,075,462.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 274,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,792,629.58. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.48, for a total transaction of $35,145.96. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,183 shares of company stock worth $1,483,361 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NTAP. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $117.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.07.

About NetApp

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.