Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 1.3%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares rose 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $350.23 and last traded at $349.49. Approximately 297,053 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,265,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $345.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $112.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $336.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $312.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,563,020,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after buying an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $177,933,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.