Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $225.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $196.73 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.89 and a 200-day moving average of $181.17. The firm has a market cap of $129.09 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by 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.