Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $260.00 at Raymond James

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by Raymond James from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $273.26.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $242.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.67, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.61. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $132.22 and a twelve month high of $265.90.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 57.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.48, for a total value of $10,956,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,096,635.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.59, for a total value of $136,056.86. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,637.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.48, for a total transaction of $10,956,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,096,635.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 176,890 shares of company stock worth $42,637,820. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.