Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $425.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $390.00 to $425.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PANW. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded down $17.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $380.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,653,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,849,889. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The company has a market capitalization of $123.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.82.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split 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 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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 business’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 value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third 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 during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.