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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by Needham & Company LLC from $345.00 to $385.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PANW. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $350.75 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 139,569 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $47,315,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $509,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $19,017,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 14,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.