Franklin Resources Inc. Has $36.02 Million Stock Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 32.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 338,048 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 161,241 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $36,019,000 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. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 375.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in NetApp during the first quarter worth $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in NetApp by 287.9% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 256 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in NetApp in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 300.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Down 2.0%

NTAP stock opened at $109.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.84 and a twelve month high of $131.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $116.11 and its 200-day moving average is $110.16.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The data storage provider reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.16. NetApp had a return on equity of 123.24% and a net margin of 17.77%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. NetApp’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-8.050 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.110 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NTAP. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on NetApp from $125.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on NetApp from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.07.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.67, for a total transaction of $123,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,074.76. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 779 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.87, for a total transaction of $94,936.73. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 12,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,361 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.