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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $295.95 and last traded at $294.41. 679,970 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,335,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $93.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.