Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Lowered to Reduce Rating by HSBC

HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $291.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $304.00.

PANW has been the topic of several other reports. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.39. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks shares are going to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.