Wolfe Research Boosts Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Price Target to $250.00

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Wolfe Research from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the network technology company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 34.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.45.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $185.88 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.56 billion, a PE ratio of 117.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. The trade was a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.