Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2.5%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price rose 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $338.39 and last traded at $338.00. Approximately 508,728 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 4,219,435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $110.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $313.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.