Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 4.4% Higher – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 4.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $196.19 and last traded at $193.9820. Approximately 7,602,734 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 6,762,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.77, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.