Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Rating Reiterated by Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $350.00 price objective on the network technology company's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $315.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PANW traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $277.33. The company had a trading volume of 3,168,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,619,974. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $299.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.18. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $89.61 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $751,276,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $673,731,000 after purchasing an additional 92,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $924,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.