Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price rose 2.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $174.19 and last traded at $173.71. Approximately 664,361 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 5,881,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.91.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $112.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.64, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $181.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. 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.