Palo Alto Networks' (PANW) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Key Points

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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by Wedbush in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 target price on the network technology company's stock. Wedbush's target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.27% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of PANW opened at $184.01 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $210.39. The company's fifty day moving average is $191.59 and its 200-day moving average is $186.35. The firm 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 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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