Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $374.83.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PANW. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $375.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,502,000 after purchasing an additional 8,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $122.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.00, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.