Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) rose 0.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $292.00 and last traded at $289.26. Approximately 781,934 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,283,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $287.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Northland Securities cut Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $285.70 and a 200 day moving average of $293.01. The stock has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after buying an additional 113,534 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. 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.