Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Takes $1.14 Million Position in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in NetApp by 38.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp in the second quarter valued at about $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased 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 increased 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 raised its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $194.48 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.45. NetApp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The firm’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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of NetApp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $137.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NetApp from $115.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on NetApp from $137.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,164.54. This 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 at this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total value of $38,495.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. The trade was a 17.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $8,758,016 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.