Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.6%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $284.88 and last traded at $282.91. Approximately 1,504,711 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 5,538,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $281.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $297.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.12. The stock has a market cap of $89.79 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.