NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Updated by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to the “Neutral” version

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased the value of the company’s shares NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP – Free Report) from underweight to neutral in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $125.00 price target on the data storage provider’s stock, up from the previous price target of $95.00.

Many other analysts have also recently published reports on NTAP. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of NetApp from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an in-line rating on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on NetApp shares from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of NetApp from a hold rating to a buy and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $92.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an equal rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a Neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. One analyst rated the company with a sell rating, eleven with a hold rating, and six with a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $112.75.

Check out our latest stock report on NetApp

NetApp stock performance

NTAP stock opened Friday at $120.43. The company has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt to equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.45. NetApp has a 52-week low of $66.01 and a 52-week high of $121.48.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP – Get Free Report) last released quarterly data on Thursday, May 30th. The data storage services provider reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.80 for the quarter, $0.32 above the analyst consensus of $1.48. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. NetApp achieved a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 123.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased by 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company saw an EPS of $1.20. On average, sell-side analysts expect NetApp to post 5.46 earnings per share this year.

NetApp increases dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24. Investors of record will receive a dividend of $0.52 per share on Friday, July 5. This represents a dividend of $2.08 on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. This is an increase from NetApp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. NetApp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.10%.

Buying and selling confidential information

In other NetApp news, Executive Vice President Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02 for a total value of $89,730.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,095.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at this hyperlink. In other NetApp news, CEO George Kurian sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16 for a total value of $876,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the CEO now directly owns 252,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,068,738.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at this hyperlink. Additionally, Vice President Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction amount of $89,730.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,095.02. The announcement of this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold a total of 40,371 shares of company stock worth $4,139,505. 0.37% of the shares belong to corporate insiders.

Institutional investors criticize NetApp

Many institutional investors have recently modified their holdings in NTAP. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 14,650.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 295 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NetApp shares by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 311 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 706.3% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company NA bought a new stake in shares of NetApp during the first quarter worth $28,000. 92.17% of the shares are in the hands of institutional investors.

NetApp company profile

(Get the free report)

NetApp, Inc provides cloud-based and data-centric services that enable you to manage and share data on-premises and in private and public clouds around the world. It operates in two segments: Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud. 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 Included storage, NetApp E/EF Series and NetApp StorageGRID.

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