Oppenheimer Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $330.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $305.00 to $330.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

PANW opened at $281.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.84 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $297.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GSG Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after buying an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $3,135,000. 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.