Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Up 1.7% – Time to Buy?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price shot up 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $170.25 and last traded at $166.97. 7,188,247 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 10,250,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.42. The company has a market capitalization of $136.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.