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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at BTIG Research from $395.00 to $414.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.99% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $364.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value 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 trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 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.