Roth Capital Initiates Coverage on Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stock analysts at Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Roth Capital’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.46.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.98 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $177.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.09. The company has a market capitalization of $127.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.72, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.