Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.85.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $187.70 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $123.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $207.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.29 and a 200-day moving average of $179.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.