Susquehanna Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective increased by Susquehanna from $420.00 to $435.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a positive rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PANW. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $364.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.63. The stock has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks shares are set to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third 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 period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 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.