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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $201.77.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $201.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.32). Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.