NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Short Interest Down 12.3% in January

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 16,272,973 shares, a decline of 12.3% from the December 31st total of 18,547,520 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,145,448 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,145,448 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total transaction of $105,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,201.75. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.48, for a total transaction of $35,145.96. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,654 shares of company stock valued at $175,782 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NetApp during the second quarter valued at $281,093,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 108.9% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,947,200 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $313,997,000 after buying an additional 1,536,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,112,316 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $756,665,000 after buying an additional 1,024,626 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 103.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,783,103 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $211,226,000 after buying an additional 907,233 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 94.6% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $215,987,000 after buying an additional 886,485 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Bank of America raised their target price on NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ NTAP opened at $95.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.30. NetApp has a 1-year low of $71.84 and a 1-year high of $127.78.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.28% and a net margin of 17.73%.NetApp’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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, research analysts predict that NetApp will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 36.17%.

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.