Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $630.88.

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $660.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $610.00 to $605.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 8th.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.01, for a total value of $6,072,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 696,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,321,100.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.01, for a total transaction of $6,072,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 696,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,321,100.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.46, for a total transaction of $1,678,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 252,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,088,102.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,170 shares of company stock worth $418,628,327 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 317.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,237,932 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $689,231,000 after buying an additional 941,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $522,352,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $410,696,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 388.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 639,039 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $315,647,000 after buying an additional 508,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 75.6% in the first quarter. Cadian Capital Management LP now owns 551,653 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $343,410,000 after buying an additional 237,500 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $529.07 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $502.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $530.34. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $358.37 and a 52-week high of $640.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -132.93, a P/E/G ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The network technology company reported ($0.61) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a negative return on equity of 57.50% and a negative net margin of 7.54%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.62) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post -0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Rating)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; Panorama, a security management solution for the control of firewall appliances and software deployed on an end-customer's network and instances in public or private cloud environments, as a virtual or a physical appliance; and virtual system upgrades, which are available as extensions to the virtual system capacity that ships with physical appliances.