Plan Group Financial LLC Takes Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Plan Group Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,493 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth about $5,845,000. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 7.9% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in NetApp by 20.8% in the second quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 9,283 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in NetApp by 11.4% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,210 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $22,318,000 after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 46,806 shares in the company, valued at $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,257,732. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $207.08 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $40.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $209.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.42.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced 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 net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s payout ratio is 32.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NTAP. Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

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.