NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Argus set a $225.00 price objective on NetApp and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on NetApp from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded NetApp to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.24.

NetApp Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $183.12 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $35.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.52. NetApp has a 1 year low of $93.69 and a 1 year high of $240.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.13.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.04, for a total value of $2,100,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 208,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,801,111.48. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Nevens sold 5,940 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.21, for a total value of $1,159,547.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,512,291.87. This trade represents a 43.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 172,524 shares of company stock valued at $34,824,306. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 204 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the third quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 90.8% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc. develops data storage and data management technologies for businesses and other organizations. Its offerings support workloads across on-premises infrastructure, public cloud environments and hybrid settings, with services for storing, managing, protecting and moving data. The company’s portfolio includes its ONTAP data management software, all-flash and hybrid-flash storage systems, object storage, and cloud storage and data services. NetApp also provides tools to help customers manage data across different environments and offers infrastructure through its Keystone storage-as-a-service model.