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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target boosted by Piper Sandler from $300.00 to $330.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a buy rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $349.48 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $224.64 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $329.49 and a 200 day moving average of $311.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.80, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 139,569 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $47,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $509,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,095 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $19,017,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 14,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,774,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.