Analysts Set Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target at $402.03

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $402.03.

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 168,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.39, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,821,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 285,586 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $392.59 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $371.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $343.96. The stock has a market cap of $128.81 billion, a PE ratio of 51.12, a PEG ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are scheduled to split before the market opens on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during 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 was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.