Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) Rating Increased to Buy at DZ Bank

DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. DZ Bank currently has $215.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Cloudflare from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $220.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Cloudflare from $280.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cloudflare in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cloudflare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.11.

Cloudflare Stock Up 5.8%

NET opened at $196.00 on Friday. Cloudflare has a fifty-two week low of $89.42 and a fifty-two week high of $260.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -675.84, a PEG ratio of 328.65 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $190.27 and its 200 day moving average is $204.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $614.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.67 million. Cloudflare had a negative return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 4.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cloudflare will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cloudflare

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Seifert sold 41,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.18, for a total value of $8,069,149.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 137,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,697,031.48. The trade was a 23.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.32, for a total transaction of $10,231,642.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,331,221. This represents a 70.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 633,347 shares of company stock valued at $124,873,834. Corporate insiders own 10.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cloudflare

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cloudflare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $718,316,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 802.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,863,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,144 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the second quarter worth $225,204,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,317,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,934,958,000 after purchasing an additional 821,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Cloudflare by 1,388.7% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 736,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,161,000 after buying an additional 686,702 shares during the last quarter. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Cloudflare News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cloudflare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Cloudflare reported revenue of ~$614.5M (+33.6% YoY) and EPS of $0.28, with management highlighting record deal activity, rising RPO/cRPO and improving free cash flow. MSN: Q4 growth
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue guidance topped estimates — management raised FY‑2026 revenue outlook (management cited a figure near $2.795B), signaling confidence in sustained demand and driving the rally. Investing.com: Guidance beats
• Positive Sentiment: AI tailwind — multiple reports and management commentary point to rising “agentic” traffic (e.g., Moltbot) that boosts security, networking and edge services, creating a durable demand cycle. Yahoo: AI deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — several firms upgraded or raised targets (examples include Robert W. Baird to outperform/$260 and DZ Bank to buy/$215), adding conviction to the upside thesis. Finviz: Analyst moves
• Positive Sentiment: Elevated options activity — unusually large call buying (13,474 contracts) suggests short‑term bullish/speculative positioning around the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes — some firms reaffirm neutral/hold stances (Cantor Fitzgerald) or trimmed PTs modestly while keeping buy ratings, reflecting differing views on valuation vs. growth. Zacks: Analyst roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation questions persist — coverage pieces and valuation checks note Cloudflare’s rich multiples given ongoing margin/headwind dynamics, so upside depends on continued revenue leverage. Yahoo: Valuation check
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale disclosed — director John Graham‑Cumming sold 2,520 shares; small relative to his holdings but noted by the market. SEC: Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional profit‑taking — at least one fund materially trimmed its stake in recent filings, evidence of some near‑term selling pressure amid the rally. DefenseWorld: Institutional trimming
• Negative Sentiment: Some target cuts — a few analysts reduced price targets (e.g., Scotiabank), underscoring uneven short‑term sentiment despite the beat. TickerReport: PT cuts

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc is a global web infrastructure and security company that provides a suite of services designed to improve the performance, reliability and security of internet properties. Its core offerings include a content delivery network (CDN), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection, managed DNS, and a web application firewall (WAF). Cloudflare also provides tools for bot management, SSL/TLS, load balancing and rate limiting to help organizations maintain uptime and protect web applications from attack.

In addition to traditional edge and security services, Cloudflare has expanded into edge computing and developer platforms.