Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $366.08.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $346.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.