Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $450.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $400.00 to $450.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.92.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $388.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,374,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,836,183. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $361.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.02. The company has a market capitalization of $126.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $249.56 and a 1-year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.