UBS Group Raises Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $345.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $300.00 to $345.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.58% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.51.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $1.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $333.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 705,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,364,708. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $201.17 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.53, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.