Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Cut to $225.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $235.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.36.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $165.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 24.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 74,571 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $15,260,000 after purchasing an additional 14,661 shares during the period. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $223,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.