Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Down 1.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) fell 1.2% on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $455.00 to $230.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $181.26 and last traded at $181.96. 3,268,675 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 7,451,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.20.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.46.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 49.0% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 286 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 4,291 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $118.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.59.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

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.