Palo Alto Networks Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PANW)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 47,077 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the average daily volume of 35,719 put options.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $256.18 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks has a 52-week low of $132.22 and a 52-week high of $265.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.55. The company has a market capitalization of $79.63 billion, a PE ratio of 203.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 51.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total value of $499,820.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 37,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,151,613.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.48, for a total value of $10,956,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,096,635.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total transaction of $499,820.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 37,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,151,613.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,890 shares of company stock worth $42,637,820 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. RB Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,910,000. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.69% 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.