Benchmark Begins Coverage on Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Equities research analysts at Benchmark began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target indicates a potential upside of 24.58% from the company’s current price.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.54. 1,925,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,405,343. The business’s 50 day moving average is $163.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.00 billion, a PE ratio of 88.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stance Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 7,340 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $2,766,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 982,633 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $181,001,000 after purchasing an additional 37,083 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 26,959 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.