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

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $186.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $207.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.58. The company has a market capitalization of $122.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during 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.