Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stephens

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PANW. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $171.31 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $187.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.46. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a PE ratio of 96.51, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, sell-side 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 other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 149.1% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 6,001 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 557,775 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $190,655,000 after purchasing an additional 89,719 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.