Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $435.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $381.18 and last traded at $380.83, with a volume of 157719 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $374.83.

PANW has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 833.3% during the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.39. The firm has a market cap of $123.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.