Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 2.5%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares rose 2.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $319.38 and last traded at $319.35. Approximately 1,279,748 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,126,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.39.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.3 %

The company has a market capitalization 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $290.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.15.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total value of $36,334,289.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 121,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.60, for a total transaction of $36,334,289.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,895,983.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 have sold 278,326 shares of company stock valued at $80,147,130 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $282,406,000 after purchasing an additional 749,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently 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.