Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Raised to Hold at HSBC

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by investment analysts at HSBC from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $156.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. HSBC’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 7.33% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $168.34 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $111.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $135.18 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.