Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $224.36 and last traded at $225.1620, with a volume of 5425556 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $215.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.93 and its 200-day moving average is $180.60. The firm has a market cap of $185.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.85, a P/E/G ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.