Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) PT Raised to $395.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by BTIG Research from $366.00 to $395.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.80% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $359.75 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $116.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.29, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $328.90 and a 200 day moving average of $311.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock worth $118,440,693 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.