Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded at Stephens

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $171.31 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.01 and its 200-day moving average is $185.46.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related 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 value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. 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. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 149.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 6,001 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 557,775 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $190,655,000 after purchasing an additional 89,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is 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.