Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Palo Alto Networks Call Options (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• On Monday, Palo Alto Networks saw a significant increase in activity with stock investors acquiring 54,589 call options, marking a 40% rise from the average daily volume.
• Analysts remain divided on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61, while some ratings ranged from "buy" to "sell".
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.80 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, and achieved a revenue of $2.29 billion, reflecting a 15.3% year-over-year growth.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 54,589 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately40% compared to the average daily volume of 39,099 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Stephens downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.61.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

PANW stock traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $170.97. 8,682,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,919,707. The company has a market cap of $114.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $210.39. The stock's fifty day moving average is $196.04 and its 200-day moving average is $187.36.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $122,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 41,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 448,474 shares of company stock worth $88,420,934 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 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, 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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