Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) was upgraded by research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $180.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.49% from the stock’s previous close.
PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $169.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 28th. Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $183.00 price objective (up previously from $168.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $173.00 price objective (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $159.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Finally, Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (up previously from $168.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.74.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $157.22. 1,008,935 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 999,123. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $107.31 and a fifty-two week high of $158.78. The company has a market capitalization of $14,450.00, a PE ratio of -63.91 and a beta of 0.99.
In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 78,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.78, for a total value of $11,448,840.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Mark Anderson sold 15,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.16, for a total transaction of $2,250,914.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 186,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,873,298.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 354,644 shares of company stock valued at $52,415,318. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 212.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,949 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 6,760 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $70,582,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $725,000. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $1,554,000. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 169,167 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.
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About Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks, Inc offers a next-generation security platform. The Company’s security platform consists of three elements: Next-Generation Firewall, Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Intelligence Cloud. Its Next-Generation Firewall delivers application, user and content visibility and control, as well as protection against network-based cyber threats integrated within the firewall through its hardware and software architecture.
