Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $189.51 and last traded at $189.51. 1,470,980 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,527,112 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $188.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $124.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $191.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.55.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.