Jefferies Financial Group Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $235.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $235.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the network technology company's stock.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.42.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

PANW traded up $2.11 on Thursday, reaching $203.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,457,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,288,193. The company has a market capitalization of $135.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.53.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 569,248 shares of company stock valued at $111,279,829. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the second quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.