NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Price Target Raised to $170.00

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its price objective hoisted by Wedbush from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wedbush currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on NetApp from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised their price objective on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Evercore set a $210.00 target price on NetApp in a report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on NetApp from $160.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NetApp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.07.

NetApp Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:NTAP opened at $185.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NetApp has a 12 month low of $93.69 and a 12 month high of $209.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.86.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The firm’s revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NetApp will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

NetApp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.34%.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth O’Callahan sold 1,000 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total value of $533,283.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 46,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520 over the last ninety days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NetApp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetApp in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 92.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetApp News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported record fiscal first-quarter results, with revenue rising 29.9% year over year to $2.03 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, well above consensus estimates of $1.84 billion and approximately $2.13 per share. NTAP Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Hybrid, Public Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS outlook to $9.73-$10.03 and forecast revenue of $7.975-$8.225 billion. Strong hybrid-cloud and public-cloud growth, all-flash storage demand and AI-related infrastructure upgrades are supporting the improved outlook. NetApp FY2027 Forecast and Raised EPS Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts largely raised their targets following the results. Goldman Sachs maintained a $210 target and TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating with a $200 target, while Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $191. NetApp also expanded its AWS relationship by enabling storage migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP through AWS Transform.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Citi downgraded the stock to Neutral with a $190 target, while Wedbush kept a Neutral rating despite raising its target to $170. The target changes suggest limited upside at current levels for some analysts.
• Negative Sentiment: The initial post-earnings selloff reflected a decline in free cash flow and management’s warning that second-quarter gross margin will decrease. Investors appear concerned that strong reported earnings and AI demand may not immediately translate into comparable cash generation.

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.