Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 3.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 3.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $197.15 and last traded at $196.55. 1,411,644 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 5,824,731 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.99 billion, a PE ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following 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 a total of 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $297,450,000 after acquiring an additional 848,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,562,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $284,353,000 after acquiring an additional 796,964 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is 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.