Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital reiterated their hold rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $364.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.63. The stock has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $260.09 and a twelve month high of $408.53.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This 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 sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.