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

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $201.40.

Several brokerages have commented on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $227.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $189.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.96 and a 200-day moving average of $176.55. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

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

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.