Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Decreases Stake in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 32.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,870 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 4,688 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetApp by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the second quarter valued at about $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 9.9% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 4,232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 7.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In other news, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 275 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,800. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.73, for a total value of $117,730.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,382 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,112.86. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,964 shares of company stock worth $8,106,972. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $156.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $192.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $140.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.17.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NTAP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NetApp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

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.