Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $248.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.38% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.14.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $201.00 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.42. The stock has a market cap of $137.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.23, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,160,428 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.