Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded up 1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $172.03 and last traded at $169.19. 4,983,964 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 10,878,173 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.35. The company has a market cap of $138.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Finally, Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $281,542,000. 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.