Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $230.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $230.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PANW. Citigroup lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $187.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $188.60 and a 200-day moving average of $178.87. The company has a market cap of $122.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.7% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 413,246.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 53,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $18,217,000 after purchasing an additional 53,722 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 30.9% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 975 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,434 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,215,000 after buying an additional 5,412 shares during the period. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $2,414,000. 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.