Piper Sandler Increases Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $385.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $330.00 to $385.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $420.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock 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 fifty-two week low of $260.09 and a fifty-two week high of $408.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $364.32 and a 200-day moving average of $339.63.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after purchasing an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 114,742 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.