Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 40,412 Shares of NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,632 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,412 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.14% of NetApp worth $56,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,925,168,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,395,423,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,444,057 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $687,762,000 after acquiring an additional 383,701 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,658,066 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $374,549,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of NetApp by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,129,773 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $218,065,000 after acquiring an additional 30,559 shares in the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NTAP opened at $176.07 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $203.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $240.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.52.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NTAP shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of NetApp in a report on Monday, October 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore raised shares of NetApp from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.24.

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, Director Thomas Nevens sold 5,940 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.21, for a total value of $1,159,547.40. Following the sale, the director owned 7,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,291.87. This represents a 43.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Deepak Ahuja sold 3,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.04, for a total transaction of $684,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,155,866.56. This trade represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 172,524 shares of company stock valued at $34,824,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Profile

NetApp, Inc develops data storage and data management technologies for businesses and other organizations. Its offerings support workloads across on-premises infrastructure, public cloud environments and hybrid settings, with services for storing, managing, protecting and moving data.

The company’s portfolio includes its ONTAP data management software, all-flash and hybrid-flash storage systems, object storage, and cloud storage and data services. NetApp also provides tools to help customers manage data across different environments and offers infrastructure through its Keystone storage-as-a-service model.

Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance, the company adopted the NetApp name in 2008.