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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by analysts at BTIG Research from $395.00 to $414.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.37% from the stock’s current price.

PANW has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.56.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PANW opened at $392.89 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $258.17 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The firm has a market cap of $127.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $362.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently 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.