Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 71,852 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,637,329 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 71,852 shares during the period. NetApp accounts for about 1.0% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.83% of NetApp worth $175,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,559 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of NetApp by 0.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,398 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,824,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $161.61 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.27. The company has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,500 shares of company stock worth $448,955. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NTAP. Bank of America upped their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus boosted their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.33.

NetApp Company 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.