Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.6% After Earnings Beat

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $199.53 and last traded at $197.84. Approximately 2,607,180 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 5,713,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.73.

The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,731,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $131.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.09, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $186.73 and a 200 day moving average of $181.70.

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.