Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $240.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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 a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $186.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.89 and its 200-day moving average is $175.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.