Truist Financial Raises Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $400.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.03% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.02.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $23.50 on Tuesday, reaching $366.86. 5,218,579 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,393,681. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $327.00 and its 200-day moving average is $310.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.79 billion, a PE ratio of 53.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $509,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $19,017,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 14,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,774,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 565.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 273 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.