Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $421.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $390.00 to $421.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $373.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $120.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.24, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $342.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.00. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,868,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $267,000. Clarity Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,689,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.