Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Northland Securities

Northland Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $370.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $350.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PANW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.89. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.