Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price was up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $280.88 and last traded at $276.89. Approximately 816,036 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,586,550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Piper Sandler lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.27. The stock has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RB Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $6,910,000. United Bank increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $1,022,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.