Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $611.34.
PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $530.00 to $510.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $580.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 19th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “c” rating to a “d” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 18th.
In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 4,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $559.22, for a total value of $2,237,439.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.12, for a total transaction of $6,529,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,126 shares of company stock worth $16,489,970 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 7,427 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $501,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 14,080 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,839,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 35,880 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $19,977,000 after buying an additional 1,971 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,065,000. Institutional investors own 86.27% of the company’s stock.
Shares of PANW traded down $5.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $546.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,175,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,841,343. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $520.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $510.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -115.20 and a beta of 1.31. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $311.56 and a 1-year high of $598.96.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 21st. The network technology company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a negative return on equity of 42.84% and a negative net margin of 9.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.42) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post -1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Palo Alto Networks Company Profile (Get Rating)
Palo Alto Networks, Inc engages in the provision of network security solutions to enterprises, service providers, and government entities. The company was founded by Nir Zuk, Rajiv Batra and Yu Ming Mao in March 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.
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