NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 19.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 457,445 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 109,038 shares during the period. NetApp accounts for approximately 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $70,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $458,060,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,869,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,136,000 after purchasing an additional 135,715 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $10,397,000 after purchasing an additional 17,520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NTAP. Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their target price on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.33.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president directly owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 51,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,063,912 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $198.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.69 and a 52-week high of $202.26.

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

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.70%.

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.