Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $225.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 28.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $186.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $191.89 and a 200 day moving average of $175.58.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,274 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,163,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $283,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,744.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 790.5% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 187 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 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.