Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $223.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.07% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.5 %

PANW stock opened at $195.49 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $186.89 and a 200 day moving average of $181.17. The firm has a market cap of $128.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.