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

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $350.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. DA Davidson began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a buy rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.2 %

PANW stock opened at $359.75 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $224.64 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 366,372 shares of company stock worth $118,440,693. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.