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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $385.00 to $440.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $381.56.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $387.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $359.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $336.07. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $234.15 and a 1-year high of $408.53. The company has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.38, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

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

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.