Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $229.0872.

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $176.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.52, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $187.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.67.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.