Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded at Roth Capital

Roth Capital upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.46.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.98 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.09.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth 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, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.