Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $225.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.10% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.89.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $195.49 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.91 and its 200 day moving average is $180.95. The company has a market cap of $128.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. First American Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,658,000 after purchasing an additional 18,881 shares in the last quarter. M.D. Sass LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 157.8% during the 4th quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 32,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,831,000 after purchasing an additional 19,615 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 132.3% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 37,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 21,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 305.5% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 124,603 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,673,000 after purchasing an additional 93,877 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.