Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $194.00 and last traded at $193.63. 5,232,203 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 6,223,573 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.23. The company has a market capitalization of $134.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.55, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,095,056 shares of company stock valued at $226,082,942. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $316,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 224 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $188,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.