Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $189.51 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $207.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $191.96 and its 200 day moving average is $176.55.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $174,124,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.