Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 13th, 2023

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday after Northland Securities raised their price target on the stock from $246.00 to $305.00. Approximately 2,987,295 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 4,877,886 shares.The stock last traded at $242.11 and had previously closed at $250.23.

PANW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.89.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.57, for a total value of $6,572,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,702,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,898,087.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.57, for a total transaction of $6,572,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,702,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,898,087.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $105,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,169,007. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 245,808 shares of company stock worth $51,850,161. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American National Bank boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 600.0% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 126 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,950.0% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 183 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 205.3% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 63,353 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 42,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 7.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.16. The company has a market capitalization of $71.15 billion, a PE ratio of 369.27, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 23rd. The network technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.15. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 50.01% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; Panorama, a security management solution for the control of firewall appliances and software deployed on a customer's network, as well as their instances in public or private cloud environments, as a virtual or a physical appliance; and virtual system upgrades, which are available as extensions to the virtual system capacity that ships with physical appliances.