Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Invests $16.31 Million in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 159,254 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,306,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in NetApp by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in NetApp by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,559 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NetApp by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 833 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.82, for a total transaction of $7,658,016.48. Following the sale, the president owned 46,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,246,504.92. The trade was a 51.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lorenzo Daniel De sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.09, for a total transaction of $38,495.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,488.10. This trade represents a 17.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,964 shares of company stock valued at $8,181,642 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTAP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetApp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

NetApp Trading Down 1.5%

NTAP opened at $159.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.69 and a 52 week high of $192.83. The stock has a market cap of $31.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.36 and a 200-day moving average of $120.23.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The data storage provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 8.700-9.000 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NetApp, Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

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

NetApp Company 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.