Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 36,704 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,141 call options.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $7.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $185.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,220,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,093,462. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $188.18 and a 200-day moving average of $179.55. The firm has a market cap of $121.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.35, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $208.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.85.

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.