Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Market Outperform Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $380.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $385.18 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.32. The stock has a market cap of $125.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $386.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.