Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $189.51 and last traded at $189.51. Approximately 1,470,980 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 7,527,112 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $207.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $123.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.72.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,979 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $806,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.