Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns “Hold” Rating from Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital reissued their hold rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $260.09 and a 12 month high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.63.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.