Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 5,472 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,472 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $847,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTAP. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in NetApp during the second quarter worth $1,556,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in NetApp in the second quarter valued at $725,000. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth about $363,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter worth $3,893,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Up 0.3%

NTAP opened at $187.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $209.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.41. The company has a market cap of $36.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.45.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted 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). NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. 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. Analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president directly owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. This trade represents a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $8,758,016. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on NTAP shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of NetApp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.77.

NetApp 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.