NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Hits New 52-Week High on Earnings Beat

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $135.10 and last traded at $128.41, with a volume of 420238 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $126.68.

The data storage provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 119.68%. NetApp’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NTAP shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of NetApp in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on NetApp from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total transaction of $397,393.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,096.71. The trade was a 26.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total transaction of $88,971.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,475,782.80. The trade was a 5.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,049 shares of company stock worth $2,807,851 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetApp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 2,833.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetApp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.59.

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.