NetApp (NTAP) to Release Earnings on Thursday

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, November 21st. Analysts expect NetApp to post earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter. Individual that wish to register for the company's earnings conference call can do so using this link.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The data storage provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. NetApp had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 121.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect NetApp to post $6 EPS for the current fiscal year and $6 EPS for the next fiscal year.

NetApp Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp stock traded down $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $118.08. 915,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,991. NetApp has a 1-year low of $76.41 and a 1-year high of $135.01. The firm has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $121.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.74.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. NetApp's payout ratio is currently 40.62%.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 705 shares of NetApp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total transaction of $88,971.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,782.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $1,071,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,922,233.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.20, for a total value of $88,971.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,782.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,890 shares of company stock worth $1,369,172. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NetApp from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital raised NetApp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on NetApp from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NetApp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.06.

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.