Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Cut to Sell at Guggenheim

Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $130.00 price target on the network technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $217.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.27.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 867,734 shares of company stock valued at $161,546,523 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares in the last quarter. 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.