Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $314.82 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $314.82.

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $281.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.01, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.