NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $171.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $199.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.07.

NetApp Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $185.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.44. NetApp has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $209.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.86.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NetApp will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.34%.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth O’Callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 46,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 55,072 shares of company stock valued at $8,719,520. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,540 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NetApp by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 833 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, MRWM Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NetApp by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. MRWM Advisors LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported record fiscal first-quarter results, with revenue rising 29.9% year over year to $2.03 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, well above consensus estimates of $1.84 billion and approximately $2.13 per share. NTAP Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Hybrid, Public Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS outlook to $9.73-$10.03 and forecast revenue of $7.975-$8.225 billion. Strong hybrid-cloud and public-cloud growth, all-flash storage demand and AI-related infrastructure upgrades are supporting the improved outlook. NetApp FY2027 Forecast and Raised EPS Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts largely raised their targets following the results. Goldman Sachs maintained a $210 target and TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating with a $200 target, while Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $191. NetApp also expanded its AWS relationship by enabling storage migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP through AWS Transform.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Citi downgraded the stock to Neutral with a $190 target, while Wedbush kept a Neutral rating despite raising its target to $170. The target changes suggest limited upside at current levels for some analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: The initial post-earnings selloff reflected a decline in free cash flow and management’s warning that second-quarter gross margin will decrease. Investors appear concerned that strong reported earnings and AI demand may not immediately translate into comparable cash generation.

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.