Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price shot up 2.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $175.46 and last traded at $175.01. 1,729,726 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 5,862,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $116.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $189.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.51.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.