Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.41. 389,891 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,690,974. The stock has a market cap of $120.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $185.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.