Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) traded up 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $190.05 and last traded at $190.22. 699,247 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,958,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $124.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. 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.