JMP Securities Reaffirms “Market Outperform” Rating for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $380.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $321.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $201.17 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 278,326 shares of company stock worth $80,147,130 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.