Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1% Higher – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $193.20 and last traded at $190.85. 5,334,766 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 6,054,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.86.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $193.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.02 billion, a PE ratio of 120.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in 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 last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.8% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 669 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirabaud & Cie SA lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 130.1% during the second quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 15,810 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 8,940 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.