Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $416.00 to $450.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the network technology company’s stock.

PANW has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.89. Palo Alto Networks has a 12-month low of $260.09 and a 12-month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks shares are going to split 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $536,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.0% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,468 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.6% in the first quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 16,142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.