Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price shot up 0.1% during trading on Friday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $360.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $345.90 and last traded at $341.17. 855,772 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,818,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.82.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $304.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.64. The stock has a market cap of $110.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.10.

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

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.