Bank of Nova Scotia Has $23.07 Million Stock Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 225,332 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 24,799 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.11% of NetApp worth $23,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 803,450 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $82,265,000 after buying an additional 144,801 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in NetApp by 27.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 79,707 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $8,161,000 after purchasing an additional 17,079 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP lifted its position in NetApp by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 40,860 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 4,680 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth approximately $3,071,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in NetApp by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,549,000 after buying an additional 2,046,912 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $33,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total transaction of $170,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,283.24. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

NetApp Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $167.74 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.95 and its 200 day moving average is $122.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 32.70%.

NetApp Profile

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.