Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.8%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $342.39 and last traded at $341.65. Approximately 504,076 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 4,151,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.26.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $337.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.86, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS 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 stock was 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 owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,791,570. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 359,732 shares of company stock valued at $118,815,557 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,946,000 after purchasing an additional 249,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.