Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2.7% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $190.92 and last traded at $190.3150. Approximately 4,807,960 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 6,228,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $132.65 billion, a PE ratio of 120.45, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $207.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.