Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target lifted by TD Cowen from $400.00 to $420.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PANW. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $364.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.39.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is going 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 distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $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.