Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $229.09 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.0872.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,669 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.2%

PANW opened at $166.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $115.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.22, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.