Amundi Buys 148,903 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Amundi grew its position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,264,803 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 148,903 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.64% of NetApp worth $129,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at $458,060,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $374,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,912 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 378.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,329,475 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,863 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in NetApp by 94.6% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,823,292 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $215,987,000 after purchasing an additional 886,485 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in NetApp in the first quarter worth $89,977,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $178.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $162.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.46. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $192.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

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

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NetApp from $88.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NetApp from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

NetApp 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.