Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 0.9% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares traded down 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $180.30 and last traded at $182.62. 889,395 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 6,065,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.77. The stock has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during 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 grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. M&G PLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 9,497 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after acquiring an additional 2,577 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $108,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.