Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Receives $226.20 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $227.9850.

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 261,248 shares of company stock worth $53,316,149. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $193.98 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $195.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.29. The stock has a market cap of $135.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.