Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 28,618 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 28,618 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Morgan Stanley raised NetApp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $173.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.25.

NetApp Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $204.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $209.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.13.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. NetApp’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,689 shares of company stock worth $8,224,732. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.