Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Now Covered by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note released on Thursday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $415.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $363.53. The stock had a trading volume of 828,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,927,855. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $352.45 and its 200 day moving average is $328.38. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 315,252 shares of company stock valued at $107,138,877. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,363 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,239 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,458 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 65.6% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 158.9% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,707 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 4,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $246,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.