Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) PT Raised to $360.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $330.00 to $360.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 8.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on PANW. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.51.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $333.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $107.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $323.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.74. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,315 shares of company stock valued at $118,696,590. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 975 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,253 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 413,246.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 53,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $18,217,000 after purchasing an additional 53,722 shares during the period. Quest Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $16,582,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,550.9% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 3,288 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.