Oppenheimer Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $330.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $305.00 to $330.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.99% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.46.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $277.33. 3,161,233 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,610,827. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.91 and a 200 day moving average of $290.27. The stock has a market cap of $89.61 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $6,910,000. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $1,022,000. 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.