Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $372.32 and last traded at $371.90. 356,998 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 3,978,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $119.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.54, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $351.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $326.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,364 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $102,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,483,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 3,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 613.9% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. 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.