Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0.9% Higher – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares rose 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $193.40 and last traded at $191.29. Approximately 786,712 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 6,306,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $126.08 billion, a PE ratio of 107.29, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.64 and its 200 day moving average is $184.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 613.9% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.8% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,364 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 898 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.