Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.3%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price was up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $345.55 and last traded at $342.28. Approximately 644,040 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,741,544 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Macquarie lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.09. The company has a market cap of $110.83 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. 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 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 302,525 shares of company stock worth $93,982,207. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. 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.