Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $401.94 and last traded at $399.68, with a volume of 123701 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $398.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.87.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $356.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $334.54. The stock has a market cap of $131.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tradewinds LLC. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.