Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Cut to $215.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $240.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 28.74% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.3 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $5.76 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $167.00. 853,212 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,889,604. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $110.57 billion, a PE ratio of 94.09, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $187.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.49.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 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.