Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.3%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $295.00 and last traded at $294.45. Approximately 875,918 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 5,471,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $302.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.86. The stock has a market cap of $94.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.