Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 5.7% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 5.7% on Wednesday, trading as high as $228.85 after closing at $215.60, with volume slightly below its daily average.
• Recent analyst activity was mixed, but the overall view remains constructive: Arete Research upgraded the stock to buy, Barclays raised its target to $220, and the consensus rating is still Moderate Buy with an average target price of $212.09.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, posting $1.03 EPS versus $0.94 expected on revenue of $2.59 billion, while revenue grew 14.9% year over year.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) rose 5.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $228.85 and last traded at $227.79. Approximately 9,310,352 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 9,527,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $215.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Arete Research upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $185.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.85, a PEG ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.77. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.93 and its 200 day moving average is $180.60.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goepper Burkhardt LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 568.0% in the 1st quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 446,374 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $71,563,000 after acquiring an additional 379,556 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,036,648,000 after acquiring an additional 273,103 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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