Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Market Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Northland Securities

Northland Securities reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Northland Securities currently has a $370.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $350.00.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $17.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $380.18. 1,653,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,849,889. The company has a market cap of $123.79 billion, a PE ratio of 54.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $363.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $338.82. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $260.09 and a 1-year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks shares are set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 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.