Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 481,657 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 143,820 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $57,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in NetApp in the second quarter worth about $281,093,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 108.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,112,316 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $756,665,000 after buying an additional 1,024,626 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 worth $211,226,000 after buying an additional 907,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of NetApp by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,544,513 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $164,568,000 after acquiring an additional 700,467 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $96.91 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.84 and a 52 week high of $126.66.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05. NetApp had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 118.11%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. NetApp’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.920-8.020 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 3rd will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on NetApp from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.45, for a total value of $103,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,758.75. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.