Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $225.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $196.95. 1,692,596 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,767,706. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $186.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.69. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $207.24. The stock has a market cap of $129.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.44, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $405,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 12.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 280 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 69.5% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.