Susquehanna Raises Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $230.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective hoisted by Susquehanna from $217.50 to $230.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “positive” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.06% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $201.66. 2,258,365 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,218,512. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.29. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24. The company has a market cap of $132.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.