Palo Alto Networks Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 39,260 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 58% compared to the typical volume of 24,861 call options.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 910,906 shares of company stock valued at $170,005,355. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.72.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $179.50 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24. The firm has a market cap of $117.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $191.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.20.

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

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.