JMP Securities Raises Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $212.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price upped by JMP Securities from $208.00 to $212.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective points to a potential upside of 5.98% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PANW. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $200.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $131.26 billion, a PE ratio of 52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.