Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0% After Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were up 0% during trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $217.00 to $240.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $199.18 and last traded at $196.41. Approximately 1,169,485 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,730,660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.40.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.89.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 4,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 130.8% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 15,094 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 8,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.00, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.