Boston Partners Lowers Stock Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Boston Partners decreased its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,309,133 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 8,472 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in NetApp were worth $354,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased 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 worth $28,136,000 after buying an additional 135,715 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth about $14,869,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $458,060,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 21,643 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in NetApp by 216.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 927,525 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $109,875,000 after buying an additional 634,085 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,279,913.56. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,500 shares of company stock valued at $448,955. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $161.61 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp’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. On average, equities analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTAP has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush increased their price objective 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. Susquehanna increased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.