Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Rating Increased to Buy at Rosenblatt Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $430.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $390.00. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $364.32 and a 200 day moving average of $339.39. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $260.09 and a 12 month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The company 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 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.