Susquehanna Raises Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $340.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by Susquehanna from $325.00 to $340.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a positive rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PANW. Mizuho cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $321.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $290.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.74. The company has a market capitalization of $104.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 278,326 shares of company stock worth $80,147,130 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.8% during the 3rd quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,643 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 1,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently 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.