Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at KeyCorp

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by stock analysts at KeyCorp in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $220.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.12% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.43.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $194.48 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a PE ratio of 109.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $178.03 and a 200-day moving average of $185.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.