Morgan Stanley Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Morgan Stanley reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $360.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler cut Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $322.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $317.31 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $201.17 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $305.16. The company has a market capitalization of $102.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 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.