Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 2.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price traded up 2.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $366.51 and last traded at $365.63. 412,228 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,991,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $358.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $119.31 billion, a PE ratio of 50.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $351.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.8% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,364 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,483,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 3,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 613.9% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.