Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Westpark Capital

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by research analysts at Westpark Capital in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Argus increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued 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 a consensus price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $359.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $328.90 and its 200 day moving average is $311.18. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $116.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.29, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total value of $12,209,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock worth $118,440,693 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.