Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $339.70 and last traded at $341.17. 333,486 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 4,184,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $343.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $110.75 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average of $314.43.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.