Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Oppenheimer in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $450.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.38% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $339.39.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on 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 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 return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.