Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE:PANW) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the forty-nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.49.
Several equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $156.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. Cowen and Company restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. FBN Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Vetr upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.90 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Finally, Gabelli upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $159.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 1st.
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Shares of Palo Alto Networks (NYSE PANW) traded down 0.97% on Friday, reaching $130.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 830,916 shares. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $107.31 and a 1-year high of $165.69. The stock’s market capitalization is $11.98 billion. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.07 and a 200 day moving average of $128.68.
Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 31st. The network technology company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $431.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.11 million. Palo Alto Networks had a negative net margin of 14.38% and a negative return on equity of 23.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post $2.59 EPS for the current year.
In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.97, for a total transaction of $4,139,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 271,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,478,860.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. WFG Advisors LP increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% in the first quarter. WFG Advisors LP now owns 900 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.9% in the first quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC now owns 939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $120,000. First Interstate Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 130.7% in the first quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 1,375 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $191,000. 80.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Palo Alto Networks Company Profile
Palo Alto Networks, Inc offers a next-generation security platform. The Company’s security platform consists of three elements: Next-Generation Firewall, Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Intelligence Cloud. Its Next-Generation Firewall delivers application, user and content visibility and control, as well as protection against network-based cyber threats integrated within the firewall through its hardware and software architecture.
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