NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 18.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NTAP. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of NetApp in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NetApp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of NetApp from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on NetApp from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.00.

NetApp Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NTAP stock opened at $122.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.87 and a 200-day moving average of $122.59. The stock has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.24. NetApp has a 52-week low of $77.56 and a 52-week high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.96.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The data storage provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. NetApp had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 119.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NetApp will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.23, for a total value of $397,393.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,096.71. This represents a 26.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 directly owns 292,778 shares in the company, valued at $36,922,233.58. The trade was a 2.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,049 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,851 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetApp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of NetApp by 11.8% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 784 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management lifted its holdings in NetApp by 1.4% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 6,149 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in NetApp by 4.3% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of NetApp by 11.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 876 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of NetApp by 0.5% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 18,920 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,437,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

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.