Insider Selling: NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) CEO Sells $2,600,130.00 in Stock

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) CEO George Kurian sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.01, for a total value of $2,600,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,110,455.37. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

George Kurian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 14th, George Kurian sold 40,000 shares of NetApp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total transaction of $7,656,800.00.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $201.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.52. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $209.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 119.13%. NetApp’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NTAP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetApp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NetApp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,925,168,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,395,423,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $458,060,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,549,000 after buying an additional 2,046,912 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in NetApp in the second quarter valued at approximately $258,093,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp plans to acquire UK-based PEAK:AIO, whose metadata technology and high-performance parallel-file architecture are designed for large-scale AI workloads. The deal should expand NetApp’s AI infrastructure capabilities, complement its ONTAP platform and improve its ability to serve increasingly demanding data environments. Financial terms were not disclosed. NetApp plans to acquire AI storage firm PEAK:AIO
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are focusing on NetApp’s raised fiscal 2027 outlook, driven by record first-quarter revenue and strong AI and flash-storage demand. The company recently reported adjusted EPS of $2.58 versus a $2.12 consensus estimate and revenue of roughly $2.03 billion, up nearly 30% year over year. Can AI and Flash Demand Power NetApp’s Raised FY27 Outlook?
• Neutral Sentiment: NetApp’s valuation and analyst backdrop remain mixed. The consensus rating is “Hold,” although some firms have issued bullish ratings and price targets as high as $225. The stock’s rally may already reflect much of the recent earnings strength.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO George Kurian reportedly sold 13,000 shares, while Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,450 shares worth approximately $690,000. These transactions do not affect operations, but insider selling can temper investor sentiment after a substantial share-price advance. NetApp insider share sales

NetApp Company Profile

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data infrastructure and cloud storage company that helps organizations manage, protect and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds and public clouds. Its offerings are designed to support enterprise workloads such as databases, business applications, artificial intelligence and virtualized computing.

The company’s portfolio includes all-flash and hybrid storage systems, cloud storage services, data management software and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.