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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and thirty-one have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $227.9850.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% 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 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 2,262 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 221.4% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 129,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $22,095,000 after purchasing an additional 89,196 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $189.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $131.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.63, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.05.

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

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.