Palo Alto Networks' (PANW) "Equal Weight" Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Key Points

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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reiterated by analysts at Stephens in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $205.00 price objective on the network technology company's stock. Stephens' price target indicates a potential upside of 11.41% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $185.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.5%

PANW stock opened at $184.01 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.35. The stock has a market cap of $122.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at $8,452,332. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently 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.

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