KeyCorp Lowers Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $205.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price reduced by KeyCorp from $240.00 to $205.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $167.69 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $137.60 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.61 and its 200 day moving average is $184.71.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the first quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.