Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) PT Raised to $385.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $360.00 to $385.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 7.02% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $359.75 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $224.64 and a one year high of $380.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $328.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.29, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total transaction of $660,601.83. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in 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.