Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $205.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Citigroup from $216.00 to $205.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 15.40% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $177.64. 2,647,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,217,228. The company has a market cap of $116.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.52.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. 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.