Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $200.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $200.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.09, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.42. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.2% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $253,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.