Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Now Covered by Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $410.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0 %

PANW opened at $373.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $340.85 and its 200-day moving average is $318.89. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $233.81 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 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.