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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $416.00 to $450.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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 200 day simple moving average of $339.63. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $260.09 and a 52 week high of $408.53. The stock has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.