Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Buy" Rating

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on PANW. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. OTR Global restated a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.01.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $5.94 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $202.50. 6,084,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,564,503. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $205.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $191.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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