Westpark Capital Reiterates Hold Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by stock analysts at Westpark Capital in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $185.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.64.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $176.17 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.35. The company has a market capitalization of $117.47 billion, a PE ratio of 100.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,160,308 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $211,150,000 after buying an additional 560,973 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 170.5% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. 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.