Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report released on Tuesday. The firm set an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PANW. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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 restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $182.41. The stock had a trading volume of 389,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,690,974. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $185.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.97. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $120.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tradewinds LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 928 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.