Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Rating Increased to Hold at HSBC

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at HSBC from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $156.00 price target on the network technology company's stock. HSBC's price target suggests a potential downside of 8.13% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. 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, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.52.

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Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $169.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,708,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,888,514. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $135.18 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $112.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.66, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $182.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.90.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.