Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.49.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $125.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.13, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $353.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in 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, 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.