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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $226.2049.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,448 shares of company stock valued at $53,168,301. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $179.37 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.95 and a 200-day moving average of $196.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.53, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.