Entropy Technologies LP Acquires 21,392 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 138.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,883 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,392 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in NetApp were worth $3,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of NetApp by 367.8% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 930,444 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $95,268,000 after buying an additional 731,553 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 138.1% in the first quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 12,455 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 7,225 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth $393,000. Wills Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 27.5% during the first quarter. Wills Financial Group LLC now owns 16,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after buying an additional 3,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 22.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 803,450 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $82,265,000 after buying an additional 144,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total value of $170,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,283.24. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $167.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $192.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.54.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous 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 forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus increased their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.33.

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.