Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $220.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $205.00 to $220.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on PANW. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $187.50 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.57 and its 200-day moving average is $184.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 101.1% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,798 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $2,584,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,385 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.4% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.