Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given “Buy” Rating at Rosenblatt Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $235.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price suggests a potential upside of 29.65% from the stock’s previous close.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $181.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.12, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grassi Investment Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 7,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,258 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.0% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 512 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $234,000. 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.