Insider Selling: NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) President Sells $533,283.84 in Stock

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total value of $533,283.84. Following the sale, the president directly owned 46,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,514,454.40. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Cesar Cernuda also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 23rd, Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total value of $7,658,016.48.

NetApp Stock Down 0.3%

NTAP stock opened at $192.27 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $209.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $172.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.89.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of NetApp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $458,060,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $14,869,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in NetApp by 106.8% in the fourth 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. National Pension Service boosted its stake in NetApp by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,374,000 after buying an additional 21,643 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in NetApp by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,520 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded NetApp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Argus raised their price target on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.25.

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.