Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares rose 0.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $362.79 and last traded at $362.46. Approximately 426,862 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,925,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $360.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $117.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $328.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.