Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 3.6% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 3.6% to $181.20 on Wednesday with volume down about 42% from the average; the company has a market cap of roughly $147.9 billion and a P/E of about 100.
• The company posted an earnings beat (EPS $1.03 vs. $0.94 est.; revenue $2.59B vs. $2.58B, +14.9% YoY) and carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $210.07, while analyst targets range widely from $160 to $240.
• Insider and institutional activity is notable: CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares (~$10M), insiders have sold about 30,356 shares recently, and institutions own ~79.8% of the stock with Vanguard, State Street and Bank of America increasing stakes.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 3.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $181.52 and last traded at $181.20. 5,774,329 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 10,003,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital reduced 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 note on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $147.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50-day moving average is $160.88 and its 200-day moving average is $182.61.

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 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 period 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. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 worth $3,568,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,364,000. 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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