Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 0.5% Higher

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $324.64 and last traded at $324.24. Approximately 481,079 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,830,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.17.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $306.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,182 shares of company stock valued at $74,850,597 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.