Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.8%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) were up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $350.21 and last traded at $349.78. Approximately 294,093 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 4,399,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $347.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $330.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,372 shares of company stock worth $118,440,693. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $177,933,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after purchasing an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. 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.