Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $450.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lifted by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $385.00 to $450.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.38% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PANW. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $390.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.39. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks shares are set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.