Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Market Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $380.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.18% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $361.27. 547,232 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,921,833. The company has a fifty day moving average of $352.69 and a 200-day moving average of $329.75. The company has a market cap of $117.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm 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%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.