Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Oppenheimer in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $450.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.17% from the company’s current price.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.59.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded down $2.18 on Thursday, hitting $390.71. 2,360,836 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,837,163. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $260.09 and a 12 month high of $408.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $362.55 and a 200 day moving average of $338.41. The stock has a market cap of $127.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third 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 during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.