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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price boosted by Wolfe Research from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on PANW. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.45.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.72 billion, a PE ratio of 117.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.58.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after buying an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after buying an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. 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.