Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $188.97 and last traded at $188.17. Approximately 930,387 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 5,810,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $127.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.