Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $292.00 and last traded at $289.26. Approximately 781,934 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,283,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $287.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $285.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $196,000. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 9,189 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 42.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 84,114 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $19,720,000 after purchasing an additional 25,127 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.1% during the third quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,801 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 579,480 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $135,853,000 after purchasing an additional 9,823 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.