Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2% – Should You Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.77.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $129.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.17.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. 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.