NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $201.32 and last traded at $200.7830, with a volume of 239311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna upped their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.33.

NetApp Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $39.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.45. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.96.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released 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 return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

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 that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.48, for a total transaction of $163,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 51,964 shares of company stock worth $8,063,912 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

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

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.