Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 1.6% during trading on Thursday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $330.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $283.15 and last traded at $281.85. Approximately 837,148 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,554,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.33.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on PANW. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $302.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the first quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,267 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,054,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,603.9% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 23,993 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,817,000 after acquiring an additional 23,788 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 232.8% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 84.0% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.4% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $90.84 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.44 and a 200 day moving average of $290.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. 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 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

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.