Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Increased to $421.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $390.00 to $421.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a hold rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $372.28.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $373.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.63. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $233.81 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,866 shares of company stock valued at $88,620,447. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares during the period. 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.