Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 0.1%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded down 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $304.50 and last traded at $308.15. 1,210,713 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 5,138,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $308.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.3 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.74. The stock has a market cap of $104.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 278,326 shares of company stock worth $80,147,130 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after buying an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during 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.