Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target hoisted by Susquehanna from $217.50 to $230.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “positive” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $1.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $201.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,258,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,218,512. The company has a market capitalization of $132.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.59, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.84 and its 200 day moving average is $182.29. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.