Berenberg Bank Upgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to “Strong-Buy”

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Berenberg Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.99 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $178.95. 1,569,088 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,964,676. The company has a market cap of $146.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $160.88 and a 200 day moving average of $182.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,568,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,542,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.