Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Given New $420.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective upped by TD Cowen from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $260.09 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.89.

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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.