Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.40.

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $187.46. 5,321,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,745,799. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $178.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.18. The stock has a market cap of $125.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $810,047,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.