NetApp Stock Showered With Price-Target Hikes After Analyst Day

NTAP has enjoyed the support of the 80-day moving average in recent months

Just off yesterday's analyst day where the company announced it's doubling its quarterly dividend and increased its share buyback plan, data storage specialist NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) is trading up 1.5% at $63.84 after receiving a slew of positive analyst attention. NTAP notched no fewer than four price-target hikes, with the highest coming from D.A. Davidson, to $79 from $66. Longbow Research and Susquehanna, meanwhile, each lifted their targets to $75.

NetApp stock has gained over 64% over the past nine months, thanks in part to support from the 80-day moving average, which contained the most recent pullback. Meanwhile, NTAP touched a 17-year high of $65.58 on March 14.

However, this positive price action doesn't quite have analysts convinced, with just over half of the brokerages following the stock carrying "hold" or worse recommendations. This leaves plenty of room for more bullish analyst attention going forward.

The tech stock also sports a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.75, which ranks in the 82nd percentile of its annual range. Though the ratio indicates that short-term calls still outnumber puts on an absolute basis, the elevated percentile indicates that near-term traders have rarely shown a greater preference for puts over calls in the last year.

Finally, short interest on NTAP increased a notable 49% over the past two reporting periods, pushing the short-interest ratio up to 3.70. A quick exit from these bears in the face of continued technical strength would only bolster the equity's rise.