Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2.7% - Here's What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $192.18 and last traded at $191.91. Approximately 1,419,409 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,717,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.5%

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $176.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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