Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives "Overweight" Rating from KeyCorp

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by equities research analysts at KeyCorp in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $220.00 price objective on the network technology company's stock. KeyCorp's price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.12% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.43.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $194.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.03 and a 200-day moving average of $185.32. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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