Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading 1.7% Higher - Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) was up 1.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $192.43 and last traded at $190.94. Approximately 1,480,350 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,826,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. OTR Global reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $121.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50-day moving average is $187.59 and its 200-day moving average is $179.74.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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.