Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 0.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $355.14 and last traded at $349.94. Approximately 783,431 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,414,052 shares. The stock had previously closed at $349.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $330.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock valued at $118,440,693. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $33,038,000 after acquiring an additional 26,767 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,291,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. American National Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 231 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 2,762 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $814,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.