Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 3.3%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price shot up 3.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $291.63 and last traded at $291.01. 1,102,115 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,491,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $281.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $290.67 and a 200 day moving average of $291.86. The company has a market capitalization of $94.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.91, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.