StockNews.com Downgrades Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $189.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $207.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.