Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price was down 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $171.19 and last traded at $172.16. Approximately 1,705,782 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 5,815,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Scotiabank cut 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. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.23. The stock has a market cap of $113.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % 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 ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in 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 worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position 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.

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.