Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Buys 4,683 Shares of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) by 72.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,186 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,683 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in NetApp were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of NetApp by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 311 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in NetApp by 706.3% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in NetApp in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NetApp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $1,108,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 314,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,968,758.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.36, for a total value of $1,108,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,968,758.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael J. Berry sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.24, for a total value of $954,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,604,271.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,786 shares of company stock worth $5,395,146 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NetApp from $106.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of NetApp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.67.

NetApp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $133.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 1.27. NetApp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $135.01.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.32. NetApp had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 114.54%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

NetApp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This is a boost from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. NetApp’s payout ratio is currently 44.83%.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises, and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments, Hybrid Cloud and Public Could. The company offers intelligent data management software, such as NetApp ONTAP, NetApp Snapshot, NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management, NetApp SnapMirror Data Replication, NetApp SnapLock Data Compliance, and storage infrastructure solutions, including NetApp All-Flash FAS series, NetApp Fabric Attached Storage, NetApp E/EF series, and NetApp StorageGRID.