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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its target price raised by Rosenblatt Securities from $345.00 to $390.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price indicates a potential upside of 0.50% from the stock’s previous close.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.92.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $388.06 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $249.56 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $361.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $338.02. The stock has a market cap of $126.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third 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. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after buying an additional 114,742 shares during 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.