Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2.5%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $338.39 and last traded at $338.00. 508,728 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,219,435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $108.62 billion, a PE ratio of 49.13, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $336.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after buying an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in 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 buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.