Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $300.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $200.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.50% from the stock’s current price.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.23.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $281.69 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $283.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.63, a P/E/G ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $192.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.73.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 235,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,660 shares of company stock worth $21,346,475. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after buying an additional 15,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.