Zacks Research Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for NetApp

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP - Free Report) - Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings estimates for NetApp in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst V. Doshi now anticipates that the data storage provider will post earnings of $5.72 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $5.77. The consensus estimate for NetApp's current full-year earnings is $5.89 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for NetApp's Q1 2026 earnings at $1.29 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.54 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $1.53 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also commented on NTAP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NetApp to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NetApp from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of NetApp from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen cut their price target on NetApp from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on NetApp from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.07.

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NetApp Price Performance

Shares of NTAP traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.39. 2,095,288 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,750,289. NetApp has a 52-week low of $89.88 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.77. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in NetApp by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,794 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in NetApp in the 4th quarter valued at about $395,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 8.9% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 302,010 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $37,301,000 after acquiring an additional 24,651 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management increased its position in shares of NetApp by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 68,897 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $7,998,000 after acquiring an additional 37,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NetApp by 20.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 42,302 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,225,000 after acquiring an additional 7,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Elizabeth M. O'callahan sold 451 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.79, for a total transaction of $52,672.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,063.95. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Cesar Cernuda sold 22,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.99, for a total value of $2,529,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 27,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,116,114.01. This represents a 44.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,931 shares of company stock worth $6,252,759 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NetApp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. NetApp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.52%.

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.