Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $330.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $283.15 and last traded at $281.85. 837,148 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 5,554,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.33.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PANW. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.5% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 425 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Family Wealth Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.40.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.