Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $222.50 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $189.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $191.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.