Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $410.00 to $425.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $400.49 and last traded at $396.43. 455,779 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,875,341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.40.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PANW. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.87.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. 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 available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $177,933,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $174,124,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $355.84 and a 200 day moving average of $333.78. The company has a market capitalization of $129.60 billion, a PE ratio of 54.71, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current 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.