Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Negative Rating Reiterated at OTR Global

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “negative” rating reissued by equities research analysts at OTR Global in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $385.18 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $234.15 and a 52-week high of $386.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $353.98 and a 200-day moving average of $331.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 2,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 310.6% in the third quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,677 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 197.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 205,358 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,191,000 after buying an additional 136,330 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 54.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 38,564 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,181,000 after buying an additional 13,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 14,852 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,076,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.