Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 2.3%, trading as high as $179.27 and last at $173.78 on volume up about 18%, giving the company a market cap near $141.8 billion and a P/E of 96.01.
• Quarterly results topped estimates with EPS of $1.03 (vs. $0.94 est.) and revenue of $2.59B (+14.9% YoY); analysts’ consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $209.95 even as several firms trimmed targets to $200 from $230.
• Notable insider and institutional activity: CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares while EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares, and large institutions like Norges Bank added a roughly $1.415B stake, leaving institutions owning about 79.8% of the stock.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $179.27 and last traded at $173.78. Approximately 12,197,450 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 18% from the average daily volume of 10,320,630 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $141.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $161.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,552 shares of company stock worth $27,779,427. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the last quarter. Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,542,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 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 NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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