Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.6% After Earnings Beat

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $199.53 and last traded at $197.84. 2,607,180 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,713,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.73.

The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,731,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $131.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $186.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.86.

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.