Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 1.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $180.12 and last traded at $182.09. Approximately 1,902,878 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 5,916,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research 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 $200.85.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $122.61 billion, a PE ratio of 48.66, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.