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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lifted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $330.00 to $385.00 in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.43% from the company’s previous close.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.39. 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 fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53.

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 payable 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 the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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 modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third 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 period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in 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 Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.