Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns “Hold” Rating from Westpark Capital

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by research analysts at Westpark Capital in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’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 value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings 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 valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.