Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $435.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $400.00 to $435.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.05% from the company’s current price.

PANW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.79.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $374.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.37 billion, a PE ratio of 54.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $233.81 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

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

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.