Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $212.00 at JMP Securities

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price upped by JMP Securities from $208.00 to $212.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target suggests a potential upside of 5.98% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $200.03 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.73 and a 200 day moving average of $181.70. The stock has a market cap of $131.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.