Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $215.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $240.00 to $215.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on PANW. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $171.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.46. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 22,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 18,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,177,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.3% in the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. 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.