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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective lifted by Rosenblatt Securities from $345.00 to $390.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.39.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $386.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $125.95 billion, a PE ratio of 53.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $249.56 and a 12-month high of $408.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $360.72 and a 200 day moving average of $337.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.