Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $449.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $387.00 to $449.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $391.92.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

PANW opened at $392.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $362.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $338.41. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $258.17 and a 12-month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.