NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $115.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 30.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NetApp to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of NetApp from $153.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna lowered shares of NetApp from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetApp in a report on Friday, February 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.07.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $87.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.41 and a 200-day moving average of $110.88. NetApp has a one year low of $71.84 and a one year high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.75, for a total value of $54,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,024.75. This trade represents a 3.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.83, for a total transaction of $695,555.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 249,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,438,269.95. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,176 shares of company stock valued at $5,095,701. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NTAP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,440,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in NetApp by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,024,456 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $815,402,000 after buying an additional 888,671 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in NetApp by 5,858.0% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 895,435 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $103,942,000 after buying an additional 880,406 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in NetApp by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,083,189 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $241,867,000 after acquiring an additional 729,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in NetApp by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 891,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $103,431,000 after acquiring an additional 654,626 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.