Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2% Higher – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $194.00 and last traded at $193.63. Approximately 5,232,203 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 6,223,573 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $138.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $205.98 and a 200 day moving average of $197.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,260,680. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by 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.