Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.2%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were up 0.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $342.44 and last traded at $341.20. Approximately 1,022,648 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 2,980,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned 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 price target of $326.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $310.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.86. The company has a market cap of $110.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,223,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.16, for a total transaction of $12,209,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,223,567 shares in the company, valued at $414,984,983.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 362,525 shares of company stock valued at $110,064,607. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.