Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PANW. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

PANW stock opened at $362.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $233.81 and a 1 year high of $384.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 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.