Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $450.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $385.00 to $450.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $364.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.63. The firm has a market capitalization 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 has a 12-month low of $260.09 and a 12-month high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are set to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. 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.