Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Mizuho from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $166.95 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.28. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $116.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.