Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $235.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by Rosenblatt Securities from $212.50 to $235.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $201.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $132.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.28. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.32). Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,731,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.