Scotiabank Cuts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $200.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price cut by Scotiabank from $400.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $183.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.