Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Upgraded by Berenberg Bank to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. HSBC reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.70 during trading on Monday, hitting $178.66. 1,513,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,961,998. The stock has a market cap of $145.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.69, a PEG ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,809,361 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $770,477,000 after buying an additional 452,744 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 335,609 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $53,805,000 after buying an additional 53,913 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 31,839 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,104,000 after buying an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Cambient Family Office LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 24,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,934,000 after buying an additional 4,391 shares during the period. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.