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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $378.49.

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Northland Securities increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $366.29 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $384.00. The firm has a market cap of $119.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $353.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $228,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 70.0% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 50,650 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,476 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by 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.