Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.6% After Earnings Beat

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $199.53 and last traded at $197.84. 2,607,180 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,713,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.73.

The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.70. The firm has a market cap of $131.26 billion, a PE ratio of 52.09, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

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.