Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded up 1.5% on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $225.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as high as $187.02 and last traded at $186.29. 1,547,199 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 6,089,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.51.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 101.1% during the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,605 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. Bensler LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 127.7% in the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 50,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $9,128,000 after acquiring an additional 28,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $188.87 and a 200-day moving average of $178.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.17 billion, a PE ratio of 48.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 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.