Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $167.26 and last traded at $172.83. Approximately 11,010,937 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 65% from the average daily volume of 6,685,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $113.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $191.19 and a 200 day moving average of $178.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $67,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.