Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Cut to “Neutral” at BTIG Research

BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $173.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $113.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 343.3% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 665 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 9,144 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 4,642 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 12,871 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 2,485 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.