Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Now Covered by Analysts at Benchmark

Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $200.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $160.67 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.54. The firm has a market cap of $131.11 billion, a PE ratio of 88.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.