Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $416.00 to $450.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.38% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $260.09 and a one year high of $408.53. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 52.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $364.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.39.

Palo Alto Networks’s stock is set to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly issued shares will be issued 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company 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 firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.