KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $217.00 to $240.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.89.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $195.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $207.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $192,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.