Piper Sandler Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $385.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by Piper Sandler from $330.00 to $385.00 in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen raised their price target on 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, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.89. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split on the morning of 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in 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, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.