Bank of America Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $430.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $400.00 to $430.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $17.52 on Thursday, reaching $380.18. 1,653,304 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,849,889. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.79 billion, a PE ratio of 54.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $363.59 and a 200 day moving average of $338.82.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is scheduled to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $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.