Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $345.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lowered Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $302.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $321.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $104.13 billion, a PE ratio of 46.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $290.37 and a 200 day moving average of $299.74. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $201.17 and a one year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 278,326 shares of company stock valued at $80,147,130 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.