Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 1.9% during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $220.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $192.31 and last traded at $191.56. Approximately 792,455 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 6,139,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.01.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.9 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.59 and its 200 day moving average is $184.08. The company has a market cap of $126.89 billion, a PE ratio of 107.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.