NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $139.20.

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities increased their target price on NetApp from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of NetApp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $132.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

NetApp Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $120.28 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $121.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.38. NetApp has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $135.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 123.63%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NetApp will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total transaction of $397,393.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,096.71. This represents a 26.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $38,285.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,610 shares of company stock valued at $6,123,351. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of NetApp by 2,833.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.