Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 4.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 4.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $386.20 and last traded at $383.03. Approximately 737,729 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 3,899,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $353.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.13, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total value of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at $219,505,142.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,229 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,043,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.