Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.5%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $342.44 and last traded at $342.08. Approximately 314,262 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,769,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $309.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.57, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 259,857 shares of company stock valued at $75,418,399 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.