Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $425.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $390.00 to $425.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $364.32 and a 200 day moving average of $339.63. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

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 closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.