Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other reports. Daiwa America raised Palo Alto Networks to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $350.75 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $330.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $311.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,703 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,799 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 100,666 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,684,000 after purchasing an additional 20,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently 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.