Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price rose 0.1% on Friday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $360.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $345.90 and last traded at $341.17. Approximately 855,772 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,818,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.82.

PANW has been the topic of several other research reports. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.3% in the first quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13.0% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 11,413 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,418 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 19,655 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,585,000 after purchasing an additional 6,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.14. The company has a market capitalization of $109.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.