Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.4% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 1.4% on Tuesday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $217.50 to $230.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $205.96 and last traded at $202.89. 2,687,927 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 6,231,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.03.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.70.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 6,541 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 351 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $134.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $187.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.68.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current 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.