Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $240.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $225.00 to $240.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PANW. Roth Capital reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $230.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, May 12th. They issued an overweight rating and a $247.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, May 18th. Wedbush raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $232.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 7.7 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $204.31 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $132.22 and a twelve month high of $207.38. The stock has a market cap 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The network technology company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 36.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.57, for a total transaction of $6,572,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,702,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,898,087.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 20,849 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.06, for a total transaction of $4,004,258.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,658,693.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.57, for a total transaction of $6,572,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,702,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,898,087.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 268,880 shares of company stock worth $50,764,796 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 150.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 11,544,319 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $751,276,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,376,601 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $673,731,000 after purchasing an additional 92,760 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.3% in the first quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,591,901 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $517,706,000 after purchasing an additional 419,411 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,559,318 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,163 shares during the period. 81.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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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.