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

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 target price (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $176.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.58. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LexAurum Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $214,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.