Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Hold Rating from Westpark Capital

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by research analysts at Westpark Capital in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $196.40 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Westpark Capital’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.47% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PANW. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.5 %

PANW stock opened at $195.49 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.17. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $207.24. The company has a market capitalization of $128.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Tradewinds LLC. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.