Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price traded up 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $186.08 and last traded at $184.58. 765,851 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,892,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.19. The company has a market capitalization of $122.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 968,141 shares of company stock worth $179,864,919 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. 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.