Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.5% – What’s Next?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 3.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $173.11 and last traded at $174.61. Approximately 1,355,519 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,925,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $118.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 681 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 815 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.