Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $314.82 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-nine analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $314.82.

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 327,867 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $93,157,000 after buying an additional 42,308 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 60,896 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $358,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,515,000. Finally, Bay Rivers Group purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $281.68 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.51. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.