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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $186.08 and last traded at $184.58. 765,851 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,892,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $127.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.51, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $186.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the period. 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.