Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0.6% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $362.79 and last traded at $362.46. Approximately 426,862 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,925,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $360.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $328.38. The firm has a market cap of $117.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $219,505,142.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 31 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.