NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Receives “Buy” Rating from TD Cowen

by · The Markets Daily

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAPGet Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at TD Cowen in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $200.00 target price on the data storage provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of NetApp from $150.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NetApp from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus increased their target price on NetApp from $130.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NetApp from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetApp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetApp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.43.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NetApp

NetApp Price Performance

NTAP stock traded up $6.09 on Thursday, reaching $186.86. 3,385,719 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,699,630. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.45 and a 200-day moving average of $139.96. The firm has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. NetApp has a twelve month low of $93.69 and a twelve month high of $209.06.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAPGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The data storage provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. NetApp had a return on equity of 117.23% and a net margin of 18.43%.NetApp’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. NetApp has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.730-10.030 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 2.540-2.640 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NetApp will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at NetApp

In related news, President Cesar Cernuda sold 2,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.48, for a total transaction of $533,283.84. Following the transaction, the president owned 46,530 shares in the company, valued at $9,514,454.40. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.82, for a total transaction of $193,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,872,164.54. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 55,072 shares of company stock worth $8,719,520 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NetApp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NTAP. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NetApp by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 759 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in NetApp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in NetApp by 9.9% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 46,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,986,000 after buying an additional 4,232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in NetApp by 7.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,301 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NetApp by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,161 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the period. 92.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting NetApp

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: NetApp reported fiscal Q1 FY2027 revenue of approximately $2.03 billion, up nearly 30% year over year and well above the roughly $1.84 billion consensus estimate. Non-GAAP EPS was $2.58, also comfortably ahead of expectations near $2.12. NetApp Stock Tanks Despite Strong Q1 Earnings Print
  • Positive Sentiment: Management raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to approximately $7.98 billion-$8.23 billion in revenue and $9.73-$10.03 in adjusted EPS. Second-quarter guidance also exceeds consensus, signaling continued demand from artificial intelligence, all-flash storage and hybrid-cloud customers. NetApp FY2027 Forecast and Raised EPS Outlook
  • Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifted several price targets following the results. Morgan Stanley raised its target to $191, Susquehanna to $195, and Goldman Sachs maintained a $210 target and Buy rating, citing stronger guidance and cloud momentum.
  • Positive Sentiment: NetApp announced that AWS Transform now supports migrations to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, potentially making it easier for enterprises to move storage and database workloads to AWS. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, payable October 28.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed: Morgan Stanley and Susquehanna kept Equal Weight or Neutral ratings despite higher targets, while Wedbush raised its target only to $170, below the recent trading level.
  • Negative Sentiment: The post-earnings selloff reflects weaker free cash flow and profitability concerns. Operating cash flow was about $503 million and free cash flow $401 million, while gross margin declined and management warned that second-quarter gross margin would fall sequentially as product mix and component costs pressure results. NetApp Earnings and Free Cash Flow Decline

About NetApp

(Get Free Report)

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.

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