BMO Capital Markets Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $390.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by BMO Capital Markets from $334.00 to $390.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $337.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $350.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.49. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in 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 purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 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.