Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $275.00 at Truist Financial

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective upped by Truist Financial from $200.00 to $275.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Arete Research raised Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $245.56 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.47, a PEG ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $248.85.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and reiterated bullish ratings, signaling confidence in upcoming results and long-term growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts pointed to strength in subscription revenue and possible upside to remaining performance obligations ahead of earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock has also been featured in coverage arguing it could still be attractive despite being technically overbought, which adds to the debate around the recent run.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary warns the shares are extremely overbought after a sharp rally, so any earnings disappointment in June could trigger a pullback.

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.