Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price shot up 0% on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $320.42 and last traded at $317.92. 1,368,022 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 5,027,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $317.85.

The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 37.81% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock valued at $80,670,132. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.0% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.8% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,643 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.0% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.4% in the third quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 1,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $288.74 and a 200 day moving average of $299.00. The firm has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.81, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.18.

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.