Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $206.40 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.40.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $188.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,015,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,597,726. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $125.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.16 and a 200-day moving average of $185.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.