Short Interest in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Declines By 12.3%

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 16,272,973 shares, a decrease of 12.3% from the December 31st total of 18,547,520 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,145,448 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,145,448 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 327 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.48, for a total transaction of $35,145.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total transaction of $105,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,201.75. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,654 shares of company stock valued at $175,782. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,093,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of NetApp by 108.9% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,947,200 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $313,997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NetApp by 16.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,112,316 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $756,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,626 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 103.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,783,103 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $211,226,000 after acquiring an additional 907,233 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in NetApp by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $215,987,000 after acquiring an additional 886,485 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp Stock Up 1.2%

NetApp stock opened at $97.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.30. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $71.84 and a fifty-two week high of $127.78.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The data storage provider reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.17. NetApp had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 121.28%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-8.050 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.110 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 36.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $128.00 price objective on the stock. Northland Securities set a $137.00 target price on NetApp and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.33.

NetApp Company 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.