Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 5.5% – Should You Sell?

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 5.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $163.31 and last traded at $163.61. Approximately 2,473,357 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 5,869,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $109.36 billion, a PE ratio of 93.05, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. 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.