Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective upped by Scotiabank from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $187.32 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The firm has a market cap of $122.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 413,246.2% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 53,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $18,217,000 after buying an additional 53,722 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 975 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,434 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,215,000 after buying an additional 5,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,414,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.