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

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price shot up 2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $159.39 and last traded at $156.36. 6,072,849 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 10,555,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. HSBC decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $165.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.