Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0% Higher – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded up 0% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $369.30 and last traded at $359.58. 397,335 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,934,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $328.16. The stock has a market cap of $117.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.13.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 315,252 shares of company stock worth $107,138,877 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 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.