Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 2% – Time to Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report)’s share price rose 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $194.00 and last traded at $193.63. Approximately 5,232,203 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 6,223,573 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Stephens upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $230.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

View Our Latest Analysis on PANW

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $134.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $206.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,095,056 shares of company stock valued at $226,082,942 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after buying an additional 169,055 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after buying an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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