Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $415.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target upped by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $395.00 to $415.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $416.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $364.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.63. Palo Alto Networks has a 52 week low of $260.09 and a 52 week high of $408.53. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is set to split on 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $25,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.