Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Hold Rating Reiterated at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.89.

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

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.