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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.06.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $173.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.84 and a 200-day moving average of $184.80. The company has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.93, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is 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.