Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $400.00 to $450.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.92.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $388.06 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $249.56 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $361.53 and its 200 day moving average is $338.02. The firm has a market cap of $126.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 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.