Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was down 1.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $171.94 and last traded at $172.19. Approximately 1,012,272 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,710,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $114.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.27, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.31.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Objective Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.3% during the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 47,049 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,561,000 after buying an additional 23,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 630 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.