Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price rose 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $198.71 and last traded at $197.75. Approximately 1,515,915 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 5,767,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.89 and a 200 day moving average of $181.17. The firm has a market cap of $129.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’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 value 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 approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $970,736,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.