Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. They currently have a $187.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Co.’s target price points to a potential upside of 30.36% from the company’s current price.
In related news, CEO Mark D. Mclaughlin sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $9,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,422,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steffan Tomlinson sold 2,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.10, for a total transaction of $296,397.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 135,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,280,897.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) traded down 8.624% during trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.079. The company had a trading volume of 6,160,319 shares. The stock’s market capitalization is $11.74 billion. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.83 and a 200 day moving average of $138.47. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $111.09 and a 52-week high of $194.73.
Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 30th. The network technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business earned $400.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.90 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post $1.66 EPS for the current year.
Several large investors have bought and sold shares of PANW. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,162 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the second quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,567 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.7% in the second quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period.
PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Vetr raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $152.42 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 22nd. Pacific Crest reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Citigroup Inc. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $164.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 20th. Imperial Capital reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.85.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a security company. The Company’s security platform consists of three elements: its Next-Generation Firewall, its Advanced Endpoint Protection, and its Threat Intelligence Cloud. The Company’s 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.