Swiss National Bank Buys 35,400 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 581,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of NetApp worth $59,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in NetApp by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Price Performance

NetApp stock opened at $165.76 on Wednesday. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $155.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $32.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.46.

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

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NTAP. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total transaction of $170,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,283.24. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.