Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by Needham & Company LLC from $385.00 to $450.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $260.09 and a 52-week high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going 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 payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm 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 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $177,933,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the period. 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.