Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Lowered to $205.00 at Truist Financial

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $213.00 to $205.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.67% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PANW. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $171.31 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.51, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.46.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 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.