Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $189.14 and last traded at $186.14. Approximately 1,007,973 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 6,023,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.6 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.74. The company has a market capitalization of $121.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 12,373 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,545,000 after buying an additional 4,392 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,054 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Capital Market Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, LifePlan Financial LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 45.0% during the third quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.