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

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $130.00 target price on the network technology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 25.93% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PANW. TD Cowen increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $210.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.72.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $175.51 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $191.63 and its 200-day moving average is $178.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24.

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. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,030,906 shares of company stock worth $191,569,355 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 30 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.