Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $364.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $335.00 to $364.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $302.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.3 %

PANW stock opened at $321.60 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $201.17 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.74.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 278,326 shares of company stock valued at $80,147,130 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during 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 buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.