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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target increased by research analysts at TD Cowen from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target suggests a potential upside of 7.29% from the stock’s previous close.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.62.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PANW traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $391.46. 3,532,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,842,345. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.31, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $362.55 and a 200 day moving average of $338.41. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 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 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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. This represents a 24.09 % 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 valued at $89,041,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.