Analysts Set Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Target Price at $372.28

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $372.28.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,866 shares of company stock worth $88,620,447. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $373.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $233.81 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $343.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.