Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Price Down 3.6% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was down 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $194.83 and last traded at $197.73. Approximately 1,985,372 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 6,283,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.25. The company has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 4,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during 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.