Scotiabank Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $200.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target cut by Scotiabank from $400.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $207.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.59.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 8,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $2,942,000. Modus Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 37,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,790,000 after buying an additional 18,703 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 128.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 7,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 256.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 648 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.