Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.9% – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded up 1.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $177.62 and last traded at $177.50. 1,342,139 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 6,031,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.04.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.55. The stock has a market cap of $117.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.