DA Davidson Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $240.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $215.00 to $240.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PANW. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.14.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $201.00 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.42. The firm has a market cap of $137.48 billion, a PE ratio of 125.23, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 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.