VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Holdings in NetApp, Inc. $NTAP

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its position in NetApp by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 253 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of NetApp in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NetApp during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded NetApp to “Strong Buy” from “Hold,” adding to the stock’s positive momentum and likely providing a near-term catalyst for investors.
• Positive Sentiment: NetApp’s inclusion on Zacks’ list of top momentum stocks reinforces the view that its recent operating performance and share-price trend remain favorable. Best Momentum Stock to Buy for September 10th
• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its FY2027 EPS forecast to $8.14 from $7.11 and its FY2028 forecast to $9.15 from $7.85. It also increased estimates for several quarterly periods while maintaining an “Outperform” rating, signaling stronger expectations for demand and profitability.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results showed substantial earnings and revenue strength: NetApp reported quarterly EPS of $2.58 versus the $2.12 consensus estimate, while revenue of $2.03 billion exceeded the $1.84 billion forecast and grew nearly 30% year over year. The company also raised its product and earnings outlook, supporting optimism around its storage and data-management strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders approved NetApp’s governance changes and re-elected the company’s director nominees, including CEO George Kurian. The result removes a potential governance overhang and maintains leadership continuity. NetApp Shareholders Approve Governance Changes and Board Slate
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are comparing NetApp with Super Micro Computer as a value investment, but the article does not represent a specific change in NetApp’s outlook. SMCI or NTAP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Northland’s $187 price target remains below NetApp’s recent trading level, suggesting that at least one analyst sees limited near-term upside despite raising earnings estimates.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on NetApp from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Argus set a $225.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Friday. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NetApp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.86.

Insider Activity

In other NetApp news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total value of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,872,164.54. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 49,464 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,072 shares of company stock worth $8,556,040. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

NetApp Stock Up 8.5%

NetApp stock opened at $199.28 on Friday. NetApp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.69 and a 1-year high of $209.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $182.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.44.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced 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. NetApp had a return on equity of 119.13% and a net margin of 19.18%.The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NetApp, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is 29.34%.

About NetApp

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data infrastructure and cloud storage company that helps organizations manage, protect and access data across on-premises environments, private clouds and public clouds. Its offerings are designed to support enterprise workloads such as databases, business applications, artificial intelligence and virtualized computing.

The company’s portfolio includes all-flash and hybrid storage systems, cloud storage services, data management software and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.