Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 26,670 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 37.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,966 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 26,670 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $4,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 105.5% during the third quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 224 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value of $117,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,500 shares of company stock worth $285,475 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $170.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.73. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $192.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus boosted their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

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.