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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-four analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $201.77.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital decreased 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $201.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.47 billion, a PE ratio of 52.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $207.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.32). Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

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.