Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2.3% - What's Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $202.98 and last traded at $201.50. 2,561,725 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 5,398,532 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.44. The firm has a market cap of $134.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 668,722 shares of company stock valued at $121,714,798 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $970,736,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $810,047,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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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