Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 2% - Should You Buy?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) shot up 2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $372.32 and last traded at $371.90. 356,998 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 3,978,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $119.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.54, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $351.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at $47,055,533.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $799,792,000 after purchasing an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.