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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price hoisted by BTIG Research from $395.00 to $414.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $364.32 and its 200-day moving average is $339.89.

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 created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in 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 valued at $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised 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 valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.