Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $235.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 36.03% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.76 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $187.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.49. The firm has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Objective Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.3% in the fourth quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 47,049 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,561,000 after purchasing an additional 23,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 630 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.