Scotiabank Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $385.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $337.00 to $385.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $384.00 to $380.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $331.63.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of PANW opened at $334.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.56, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.14. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 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.