What does Elliott Management see in NetApp Inc.? A lot of potential to improve a stagnant stock price.

The hedge fund has amassed a nearly 5 percent stake in NetApp, a computer storage company, and is quietly campaigning for a revamped board and a review of potential strategic options, a person briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Though Elliott has already assembled a slate of prospective new directors, the two sides remain involved in cordial discussions, this person added.

Shares in NetApp closed over 6 percent higher on Thursday, after Bloomberg News reported Elliott’s stake. The company is now valued at $13.9 billion.

NetApp is one of the biggest technology companies at which the activist investor has taken aim to date, as Elliott continues agitating at ever-larger targets. On Thursday, the hedge fund secured three seats on the board of the Hess Corporation, after a proxy fight that lasted months.

Earlier this month, BMC Software sold itself for $6.9 billion after being pushed into a sales process by the hedge fund.

What is behind Elliott’s interest in NetApp? The hedge fund has expressed a belief that the company could do a lot more to raise a stock price that had been largely flat for the year through Wednesday, the person briefed on the matter said.

NetApp had about $6.7 billion in cash on hand in late January, or a little under half of its current market value. That money could be paid out to shareholders through a special dividend or a stock buyback.

But ultimately, the hedge fund may be interested in the sale of NetApp, which analysts have identified as a perennial takeover target. The 21-year-old company has long been seen as attractive to the likes of Cisco Systems or Oracle Inc., either of which could provide scale to the storage provider’s products.

A spokesman for Elliott declined to comment. A spokesman for NetApp did not return a call seeking comment.