L2 Asset Management LLC Takes Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 89,426 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,839,000. NetApp accounts for 1.4% of L2 Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at about $458,060,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth about $14,869,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in NetApp by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,136,000 after acquiring an additional 135,715 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in NetApp by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,374,000 after acquiring an additional 21,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in NetApp by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,397,000 after purchasing an additional 17,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $186.86 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.43 and its 200 day moving average is $135.80. 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 company has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTAP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five 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, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 55,297 shares of company stock worth $8,758,016 in the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.