Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s stock price was down 2.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $183.20 and last traded at $183.97. Approximately 774,961 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 7,478,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $121.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.72.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was 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 owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total value of $11,970,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third 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 increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $174,124,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $94,875,000. 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.