Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0% on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price shot up 0% during trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $217.00 to $240.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $199.18 and last traded at $196.41. 1,169,485 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,730,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.40.

Several other research firms have also commented on PANW. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’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 value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18.4% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 761.0% in the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 1,016 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.17. The firm has a market cap of $129.09 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.