NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.3333.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Northland Securities set a $137.00 target price on NetApp and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th.

NetApp Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $103.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52. NetApp has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $127.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.65.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The data storage provider reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 121.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. 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 predict that NetApp will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 36.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.48, for a total transaction of $35,145.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total value of $105,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,201.75. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,654 shares of company stock worth $175,782 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NetApp by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,728,118 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,954,431,000 after buying an additional 686,188 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NetApp by 16.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,112,316 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $756,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,626 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 17.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,915,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $582,296,000 after acquiring an additional 718,409 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 12.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,317,605 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $393,027,000 after acquiring an additional 370,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,903,077 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $343,899,000 after acquiring an additional 29,871 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.