Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Trading Down 3.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) shares were down 3.9% on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $425.00 to $213.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Palo Alto Networks traded as low as $193.25 and last traded at $193.49. Approximately 649,149 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 7,526,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.24.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.03.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 72,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.25, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,231,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,926,027.50. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,237,430 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 571,172 shares of company stock valued at $107,074,352. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $191.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.11. The firm has a market cap of $63.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.