Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price rose 2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $159.39 and last traded at $156.36. Approximately 6,072,849 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 10,555,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 81.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $164.41 and its 200-day moving average is $187.43.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.