Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns Buy Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $235.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 36.03% from the company’s current price.

PANW has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.76 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.39 and its 200 day moving average is $185.49. The company has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.