Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.2% Higher

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $294.13 and last traded at $292.27. Approximately 749,512 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 5,403,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $289.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the first quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,815,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 32,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $9,367,000 after acquiring an additional 12,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 26,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.