Needham & Company LLC Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $385.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $345.00 to $385.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.02% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $337.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. 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 report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $359.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $116.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.29, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.