Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Decreases Stock Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lessened its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 54.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,870 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,416 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in NetApp were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC lifted its position in NetApp by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the first quarter worth $31,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total value of $163,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,106,972 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NetApp Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NetApp stock opened at $154.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.69 and a 52-week high of $192.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. 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, analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

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.