Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 0.4%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares shot up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $336.67 and last traded at $335.04. 721,007 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,210,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $333.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Northland Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $312.89. The company has a market cap of $109.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.70, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.