Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Guggenheim

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by investment analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $130.00 price objective on the network technology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price suggests a potential downside of 29.06% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.72.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.25 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.03. Palo Alto Networks has a one year low of $130.04 and a one year high of $207.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 8,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,942,000. Modus Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.5% during the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 37,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 18,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 128.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,751 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 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.