Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2.6% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 2.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $175.46 and last traded at $175.01. 1,729,726 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 5,862,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $116.22 billion, a PE ratio of 46.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $189.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.51.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. 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.