Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Market Outperform Rating from JMP Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $380.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target indicates a potential upside of 5.18% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PANW traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $361.27. 547,232 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,921,833. The firm has a market cap of $117.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.75. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was 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, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade 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 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 38.6% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,229 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,043,000 after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the period. 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.