Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $386.20 and last traded at $384.56, with a volume of 248068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $127.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $355.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.