Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Berenberg Bank

Key Points

• Berenberg Bank upgraded Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to a Strong-Buy; consensus among analysts is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $210.07.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly estimates with $1.03 EPS vs. $0.94 expected and $2.59B revenue (up 14.9% YoY); the stock trades at a P/E of 96.66 and the market cap is about $142.8 billion, with analysts forecasting roughly $2.14 EPS for the year.
• Insiders have been net sellers (30,356 shares worth ~$4.98M in the last 90 days), while institutional ownership is very high at about 79.82%, led by Vanguard, State Street and Bank of America.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Berenberg Bank to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $174.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.61. The company has a market cap of $142.77 billion, a PE ratio of 96.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after buying an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,415,364,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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