Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 359,058 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,972,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 359,058 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $318,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in NetApp by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,136,000 after purchasing an additional 135,715 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $14,869,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $458,060,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in NetApp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 432,772 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,266,000 after purchasing an additional 20,089 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in NetApp by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $167.04 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.25. NetApp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $192.83.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total transaction of $117,730.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,164,112.86. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,500 shares of company stock valued at $386,145 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NTAP shares. 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. Argus lifted their target price 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. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of NetApp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp currently has an average 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.