Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Stock

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its price objective raised by analysts at Wedbush from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 5.96% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on NTAP. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $219.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.46.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP opened at $180.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.96. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $93.69 and a fifty-two week high of $209.06. The stock has a market cap of $35.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 18.43% and a return on equity of 117.23%. The business’s revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 46,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in NetApp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,869,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at $458,060,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 135,715 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of NetApp by 13.6% in the fourth 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 increased its position in shares of NetApp by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 97,086 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $10,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,520 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of approximately $2.03 billion, up 30% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $2.58, well above the roughly $2.12 analyst consensus. All-flash array revenue increased 47%, reflecting strong demand tied to artificial intelligence and hybrid-cloud infrastructure. NetApp Stock Tanks Despite Strong Q1 Earnings Print
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to approximately $8.0 billion-$8.2 billion in revenue and $9.73-$10.03 in EPS. Second-quarter guidance also exceeded Wall Street expectations, signaling continued demand and strong near-term operating momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target for NTAP from $185 to $195, implying additional potential upside, although the firm maintained a neutral rating.
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp and Amazon Web Services expanded their relationship: AWS Transform now supports migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, potentially making NetApp’s storage platform more attractive to enterprise customers. NetApp and AWS Accelerate Storage Migrations with AWS Transform
• Neutral Sentiment: NetApp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 1.2%. The payment supports shareholder returns but is unlikely to drive the immediate trading move.
• Negative Sentiment: Free cash flow declined to about $401 million, while operating cash flow was approximately $503 million and inventory increased. Investors appear concerned that earnings growth is not converting into cash as efficiently as before. NetApp Sails Past Estimates but Tumbles on Free Cash Flow Decline
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted gross margin fell to 70.6%, with sequential product-margin pressure attributed to higher component costs and product mix. The deterioration raised concerns about profitability and execution despite the higher outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: With the stock near a 12-month high and valuation expectations elevated, traders appeared to “sell the news” after the results. Reports also noted that company insiders have recorded sales, but no open-market purchases, during the past six months.

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.