Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $275.24 and last traded at $275.89. Approximately 1,059,444 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,525,517 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Redburn Atlantic upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Northland Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.2 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $292.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.84. The company has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. GSG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after buying an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.