Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $450.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $416.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $383.36 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $364.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.92, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $260.09 and a 1-year high of $408.53.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are going to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be distributed 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.