Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.4%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $336.67 and last traded at $335.80. Approximately 339,582 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,648,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Argus upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $315.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.27. The stock has a market cap of $108.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,391 shares of company stock worth $136,147,317 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.