Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s share price dropped 1.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $202.77 and last traded at $205.45. Approximately 1,150,984 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 6,276,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $135.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.68.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

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.