NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given “Positive” Rating at Susquehanna

Susquehanna reiterated their positive rating on shares of NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a $155.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NetApp from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NetApp from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $122.67.

NetApp Stock Performance

NetApp stock opened at $132.50 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $127.52 and a 200-day moving average of $112.89. The company has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 1.27. NetApp has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $135.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 114.54%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NetApp will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. NetApp’s payout ratio is presently 44.83%.

NetApp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at NetApp

In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 314,274 shares in the company, valued at $40,968,758.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 314,274 shares in the company, valued at $40,968,758.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.07, for a total transaction of $60,147.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,581,670.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,786 shares of company stock worth $5,395,146. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in NetApp by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 311 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp during the first quarter worth about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of NetApp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetApp Company Profile

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.