Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $420.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by Susquehanna from $340.00 to $420.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PANW. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $335.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $108.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.09. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $224.64 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total transaction of $660,601.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total transaction of $660,601.83. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 466,238 shares of company stock worth $154,690,169. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,563,020,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $177,933,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.