Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $215.00 target price on the network technology company's stock. Bank of America's target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.04% from the stock's current price.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.64.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.5%

PANW stock opened at $176.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $117.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.67, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.59 and a 200-day moving average of $186.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total transaction of $17,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,199,564.80. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,180 shares during the period. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 10,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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