Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price shot up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $376.00 to $425.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $362.71 and last traded at $360.70. 689,618 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,090,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.13.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.50.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,866 shares of company stock worth $88,620,447 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,686 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the third quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 18,612 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 49,428 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 7,305 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,349,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $339.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.79 billion, a PE ratio of 52.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share 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.