Focused Alpha LLC Acquires Shares of 4,424 NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Focused Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,424 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the second quarter valued at about $2,925,168,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth about $458,060,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 127.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,912 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter worth about $195,203,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $181,772,000. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $186,488.10. This represents a 17.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,689 shares of company stock worth $8,224,732. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $204.20 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.39. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $40.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a one year low of $93.69 and a one year high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue 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, analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NTAP. Argus upped their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.33.

NetApp Company 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.