Brokerages Set Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) PT at $314.82

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $314.82.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Redburn Atlantic increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 39,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,286,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $1,506,000. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the first quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the first quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,815,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $291.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $287.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.10. The firm has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.