Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Deutsche Bank in a research note issued on Tuesday, AnalystRatings.Net reports.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) opened at 146.35 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $121.31 and a 52-week high of $200.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.10 and its 200 day moving average is $172.77. The company’s market cap is $12.57 billion.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 23rd. The network technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $297 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 54.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post $1.78 EPS for the current year.

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CFO Steffan Tomlinson sold 197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total value of $29,069.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 153,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,713,025.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark D. Mclaughlin sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.39, for a total value of $5,438,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 669,405 shares in the company, valued at $104,018,842.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PANW. Piper Jaffray raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 24th. FBR & Co. raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 24th. Vetr lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $175.84 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 24th. RBC Capital raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 24th. Finally, Gabelli reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.29.

Other hedge funds and institutional investors have made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $347,567,000. Churchill Management acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $36,535,000. Eagle Asset Management increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 44.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management now owns 415,572 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $71,478,000 after buying an additional 127,076 shares during the last quarter. Janus Capital Management increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.7% in the third quarter. Janus Capital Management now owns 508,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $87,496,000 after buying an additional 103,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $9,610,000.

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. Its Advanced Endpoint Protection prevents cyber-attacks that aim to exploit software vulnerabilities on a range of fixed and virtual endpoints and servers. The Company’s Threat Intelligence Cloud provides central intelligence capabilities, security for software as a service (NASDAQ:PANW) applications, and automated delivery of preventative measures against cyber-attacks. The Company’s PAN-OS operating system contains App-ID, User-ID, site-to-site virtual private network (VPN), remote access secure sockets layer (SSL) VPN, and Quality-of-Service (QoS).

12 Month Chart for NASDAQ:PANW

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