Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report)’s stock is set to split on Monday, December 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, November 20th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, December 13th.
Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %
PANW stock traded up $3.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $387.82. 1,043,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,859,175. Palo Alto Networks has a 12 month low of $260.09 and a 12 month high of $408.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $369.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.70.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $395.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.03.
Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks
In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,252 shares of company stock worth $150,638,257 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Palo Alto Networks
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.