Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded at Rosenblatt Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $430.00 price target on the network technology company's stock, up from their previous price target of $390.00. Rosenblatt Securities' price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.45% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.95.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $392.89 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average is $362.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.41. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $258.17 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $536,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.0% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,468 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 16,142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,586,000 after buying an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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