Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Earnings Beat

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 2,028,035 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the previous session’s volume of 3,835,690 shares.The stock last traded at $396.08 and had previously closed at $392.89.

The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.62.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value 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 approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after buying an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $129.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.82, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $363.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $338.82.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks are set to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

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.