Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $183.53 and last traded at $182.70. 755,407 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 2,577,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $120.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $191.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.