Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns “Market Outperform” Rating from JMP Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $208.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective points to a potential upside of 23.27% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.30.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.73. The stock had a trading volume of 592,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,882,209. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.94 and its 200-day moving average is $178.54. The company has a market cap of $110.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.