Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $440.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $385.00 to $440.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.76.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $387.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $359.86 and a 200-day moving average of $336.39. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third 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, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.