Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2.2% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $185.62 and last traded at $184.22. 5,344,519 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 6,218,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $188.56 and a 200-day moving average of $194.96. The company has a market capitalization of $128.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.55, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PTM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.