Empowered Funds LLC Trims Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,140 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 24,247 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.08% of NetApp worth $16,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its position in NetApp by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NTAP opened at $174.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $192.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.61. The firm has a market cap of $34.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.46.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.92, for a total transaction of $170,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,283.24. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,181,642. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

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.