Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $409.16 and last traded at $407.74, with a volume of 798492 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $403.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $390.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on 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. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $402.03.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $375.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $345.60. The firm has a market cap of $133.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks shares are scheduled to split on the morning of Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, December 13th.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 168,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.39, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,821,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm'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 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 trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 285,586 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $335,000. CX Institutional bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $362,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.0% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,203,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $220,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.