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

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on PANW. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.76.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of PANW opened at $387.00 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.73. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $234.15 and a 52 week high of $408.53. The stock has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.38, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,124,000. 79.82% of the stock is 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.