Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Cut to “Neutral” at BTIG Research

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) was downgraded by investment analysts at BTIG Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $222.50 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 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 company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Private Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 154.6% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 12,268 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,449 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,886 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,957 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 178,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,426,000 after buying an additional 78,994 shares during the period. Finally, Norway Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 30,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,569,000 after buying an additional 14,905 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.