Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $196.00 and last traded at $195.68. Approximately 4,125,872 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 6,216,702 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $136.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.85, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $206.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,260,680. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.