Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $208.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $208.00.

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $199.24 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 4,183 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.