Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BTIG Research Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price lifted by research analysts at BTIG Research from $395.00 to $414.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.39.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled 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 payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents 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 valued at $89,041,637 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.