Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Up 0.1% - Here's What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $367.65 and last traded at $365.83. Approximately 262,719 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 3,945,894 shares. The stock had previously closed at $365.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $117.78 billion, a PE ratio of 50.46, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50-day moving average is $352.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% in the second quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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