Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 0.1% on Thursday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $435.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $375.73 and last traded at $373.53. 312,284 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 4,042,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.23.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.3% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,738 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 651 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $322,000. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 24.8% during the third quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E&G Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $212,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $122.04 billion, a PE ratio of 51.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $348.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.67.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.