Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Increased to $225.00 by Analysts at Wedbush

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) had its price objective raised by Wedbush from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Capital One Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, May 12th. They issued an overweight rating and a $247.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $232.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $204.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,786.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.17. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $132.22 and a 1 year high of $207.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The network technology company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 0.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $286,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,758,125. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.59, for a total value of $102,447.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,223 shares in the company, valued at $964,113.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $286,750.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,758,125. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 268,880 shares of company stock worth $50,764,796 over the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 150.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,223,780 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,148,664,000 after acquiring an additional 11,544,319 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $751,276,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 171.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,434,431 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $398,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,744 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $204,728,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 199.5% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,197,356 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $359,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463,568 shares during the period. 81.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Get Rating)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc engages in the provision of network security solutions to enterprises, service providers, and government entities. It operates through the following geographical segments: the United States, Israel, and Other Countries. The company was founded by Nir Zuk in March 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.