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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $372.28.

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $373.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $346.63 and a 200-day moving average of $321.63. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $120.85 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.