27,749 Shares in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP Purchased by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,749 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter valued at $14,869,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the fourth quarter worth $458,060,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,732 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,136,000 after buying an additional 135,715 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 180,917 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 17,520 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTAP. Evercore set a $210.00 price objective on NetApp in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five equities 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.com, NetApp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.77.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $186.86 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.80. The company has a market capitalization of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $209.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 46,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,514,454.40. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $8,758,016 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.