Oppenheimer Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $450.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $410.00 to $450.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $364.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $118.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $233.81 and a 12 month high of $384.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $350.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 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.