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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $314.82.

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $277.71 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $295.46 and a 200-day moving average of $290.40.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.5% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 425 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Family Wealth Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.